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HAVE YOU DULY CONSIDERED 

GOD'S WAY AND PLAN OF SALVATION ? OR IN OTHER WORDS, 

Have you seriously considered how God has determined that lost ruined man I 
shall be saved; Whether by works of righteousness which he himself can do, or j 
through faith in Jusus? 

The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus, saying, "Not by works of righteousness 
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of 
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Which he shed on us abundantly 
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. That being justified by his grace, we should be j 
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." — Titus iii. 5 to 7. 

Therefore the Saviour declared to Nicodemus, " And as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : That whoso- 
ever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." — John iii. 14, 15. 

The Apostle Peter backs this by declaring, "And he commanded us to 
preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained, of God to 
be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through 
his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." — Acts x. 42, 
43 ; see also Luke xxiv. 44 to 48, Acts xiii. 38, 39. 

And those persons then and there assembled actually received remission of their 
sins and redemption through the blood of Christ experimentally. " For they heard 
them speak with tongues, and magnify God ( as the Apostles did at the day of 
Pentecost). Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not 
be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" — Acts x. 46, 47. 

" Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace ; to the end the promise 
might be sure to all the seed: not to that only which is of the law, but to that also 
which is of the faith of Abraham ; who is the father of us all, (as it is written, 
I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even 
God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though 
they were. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, 
when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb : 
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in 
faith, giving glory to God ; and being fully persuaded that what he had promised 
he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 
Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him ; but for us 
also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus' our 
Lord from the dead ; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for 
our justification." — Rom. iv. 16 to 25. For "It pleased God by the foolishness of 
preaching to save them that believe." — 1st Cor. i. 21 ; read also to 31st verse. Conse- 
quently God calls to sin aud serpent-bitten souls saying: "Look unto me (for the 
fulfillment of my promise) and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth (or the off- 
scouring of all things) ; for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, 
the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness (that is in Christ), and shall 
not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, (for salvation, or they cannot 
obtain it, and if they obtain it,) every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in 
the Lord (Jusus) have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; 
and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed, (for) " In the Lord shall all 
the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." — Isa. xlv. 22 to 24; Zech. xiL 10. 

"For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel : Neither, because they are the seed 
of Abraham, are they all children : but, in Isaac, shall thy seed be called, that is, they 
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children 
of the promise are counted for the seed." — Rom. ix. 6 to 8. For further information 
read, Rom. iv. 1 to 15; 2d Cor. i. 18 to 22. 

May the Lord be pleased to bless the reading of this to your soul, while I re- 
main yours sincerely in the Lord. 
Buffalo, State of New York, Sept., 1865. FREDERICK HASTED. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Written on these Words : 

M I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which 
walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people 
that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in 
gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; which remain among 
the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and 
broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thy- 
self, come not near to me ; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke 
in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day." Isa. lxv., 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Now, in calling your serious attention to the words before us, I wish to 
remark, that although they were in the first instance addressed to the 
Israelites, the natural descendants of Abraham, yet they are of equal im- 
portance to all the nations of the earth. Their spiritual import being- 
directed to all mankind, and peculiarly adapted to those whose religious 
sentiments, views and devotional exercises correspond with those pointed 
out in the text. For proof read Rom. xv., 4. 

And as God complains so strongly against all false and idolatrous wor- 
shippers, it behoves every person to examine themselves minutely, in or- 
der to ascertain correctly, whether this complaint stands against them or 
not. And it being a question of such vast importance to the soul, I will 
endeavor to assist you a little in this self examination by explaining the 
spiritual sense and meaning of the text, and showing you the points on 
which the different charges bear. 

Now if you take notice, in the first portion of the text God made a 
solemn declaration by the mouth of the prophet, saying, " I have spread 
out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a 
way that was not good, after their own thoughts." 

In these words alone two things present themselves for our consideration. 
The first of these is, What are the hands of God ? And what we are to 
understand by his spreading them out all the day unto a rebellious people. 
The second is, What is meant by their walking in a way that was not 
good, after their own thoughts ? 

The hands of God, which are here alluded to, are doubtless the Holy 
Ghost and Christ; this was manifested at the creation, for Christ is the 
Word of God, and consequently his power, for he spake all things into 
existence, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, (for 
proof read Gen. i., 2.) Christ is the living essential word of God, and 
the Holy Ghost, or operative Spirit of God, attends the word, to perform 
what is spoketf, (for proof read John vi., 63.) Therefore saith the Apos- 
tle, " In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the 
word was God. All things were made by him ; and without him was 
not any thing made that was made." John 1, 1, 3; read also Heb. i. 1—3. 

This was also shown in a very conspicuous manner, in the construction 
of the mercy seat, which was placed in the tabernacle of the congregation. 
As God commanded Moses saying, " And thou shalt make a mercy seat 
of pure gold : two cubits and a half shall be- the length thereof, and a 
cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cheru- 



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biras of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of 
the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other 
cherub on the other end ; even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cher- 
ubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth 
their wings on high : covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their 
faces shall look one to another : toward the mercy seat shall the faces of 
the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the 
ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee, 
And there will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from 
above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the 
ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in command- 
ment unto the children of Israel." Exod. xxv., 17 — 22. 

Thus you see God was pleased to represent and set forth both his right 
and left hand, in the form, figure and character of two cherubims, beaten 
out of the same piece of gold as composed the mercy seat. Does not this 
show clearly, that Father, Son and Holy Ghost are all one. You see there 
was no separation between the mercy seat and the cherubims, no division, 
no difference or distinction in quality, although there was in appearance, 
it was one piece of gold. 

The cherubims appeared in the handsomest form, the mercy seat being 
plain, presenting no beauty to the eye of man. The glorious Majesty of 
heaven was not to be seen only by the eye of faith, consequently the seeker 
after God had to wait patiently. This afforded, not only an opportunity for 
reflection, and self examination, but also for contemplation. He might 
view the ark of the testimony, the cherubims, and the mercy seat with 
admiration, or with reverential awe, but something else was needed. Where 
was Him who is expected to speak peace to the troubled conscience ? He 
hath promised to meet his people here, and speak to them from off the 
mercy seat, from between the two cherubims. But they have got to find 
him, and hear his pardoning voice. 

The cherubims possessed not the power of speech, the voice was to come 
from Him who is invisible. This the cherubims themselves denoted, their 
faces looking inward to the great and grand centre of attraction, by which 
they silently directed the attention of the seeking soul to the mercy seat. 
You are aware that a man's hands and arms are active and efficient 
members of his body, and whatever is performed by them, is considered 
his doing. But without hands and arms he would not be a complete man. 
And if a man's hands and arms should be separated from his body, you 
know he could not use them, neither could his hands and arms perform 
any acts of themselves, if separated from his body, having lost all life and 
power through being cut off from the nourishment, strength and support 
they received from the body. 

But admitting for argument sake, it were possible for those disjointed 
or separate members to perform any feats, after being separated from the 
body, it would not then be the man who did it, but his separate members, 
which are independent of him. 

But while a man's hands and arms remain united to his body, although 
they cannot speak, he can, as far as his power extends, make them perform 
what he wills and determines. If he meets an old acquaintance, a friend, 
a relative, or even one with whom he has been at variance, but is desirous 
of healing old sores, hiding all faults and burying the past in oblivion ; 
he holds out and offers his right hand in token of friendship and good 
will, (read Luke ii., 10 — 20.) If they accept it, well. If not, the sin 
lies at their own door. 



If, on the other hand, he meets an avowed enemy, one who is always 
daringly insulting him to his face, striving to rob him of his fair fame^ by 
speaking evil of him, or construing his kind, generous, and honest inten- 
tions into motives of selfishness, or evil intentions, and he feels provoked, 
he may probably inflict on him summary punishment with these same 
hands, instead of showing favor, (readHosea. v., 14, 15; xiii., 8; Isa. xlvii. 
3,) or he may prefer to proceed against him according to law, if the law 
will reach him. In either of these cases it would be the man who doeth it. 

And God may be considered as standing in a similar position, only he 
is Almighty, and able to do all things according to the counsel of his own 
will, both in the armies above and among the inhabitants of the earth : and 
none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ? (for proof read 
Dan. iv., 35.) Yet God's hands do not speak, only by impulse, (for proof 
read John xiv., 10; xvi., 13,) consequently if we divide or separate the 
Deity into three distinct persons, of equal power and ability, independent 
of each other, we sever as it were the arms and hands of the Almighty 
from him, and thereby, not only render them useless to him, but give him 
the lie to his face, declaring to him in effect, you have no hands or arms, 
although you declare in the text you have spread them out all the day 
unto a rebellious people. 

It is very evident that in different ages of the church, men in their zeal 
have endeavored to introduce something which they fancied would add to, 
and strengthen the doctrine of God, although the scriptures do not war- 
rant it. 

I do not know with whom originated the appellation of God the Father, 
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. But we do not find it used in 
scripture, and therefore what the scriptures do not warrant should be 
dropped. 

The Apostle declares, " There are three that bear record in heaven^ The 
Father, The Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." 1st 
John, v., 7. Consequently whatever is performed by the Holy Ghost and 
Christ, is God's work, they being his hands and arms. Therefore it is 
written, " My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine 
arms shall judge the people ; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine 
arms shall they trust." Isa. li., 5. * 

And if you wish to know further, who or what these arms are that is 
to judge the people, read John v., 22; ix., 39; xvi., 8 — 11; Acts x., 42. 
For it is evident God employs his hands and arms according to his own 
mind and will. The law being his rod, and Moses the law officer of the 
crown. 

Hence arises the exhortation, " Agree with thine adversary quickly, 
while thou art in the way with him : lest at any time the adversary (read 
1st Pet., v., 8) deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the 
officer, and thou be cast into prison." Matt, v., 25 ; read also Psa. cvii., 
10 — 12. 'And the Psalmist further declares, that " Fools, because of their 
transgressions, and because of their iniquities are afflicted." Psa. cvii., 17. 

And as God kindly condescends to hold out his right hand in the person 
of Christ, to his disobedient and rebellious people, see that you reject 
not the proffered hand of friendship and good will, for if you do, and 
pass on disdaining his extended hand, you will most assuredly incur his 
displeasure, and either be. pushed back and laid flat in the dirt like Job, 
(see Job ix., 30, 31; xxxii., 13,) or experience some severe chastisement. 
For information on this point, read Heb. ii., 1 — 18. For the same Apos- 



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tie declares, u God eommendeth his love toward us, in that while we were 
yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. v., 8. 

And we are informed that Belshazzar saw the fingers of a man's hand 
writing upon the plaster of the wall of his palace over against the candle- 
stick, during his revelry. Here we may behold the Holy Ghost as the 
left hand of God, not speaking, but writing bitter things against him, 
(compare this with Job xiii., 26,) and making manifest his awful state and 
condition, and pronouncing sentence against him. Read Dan. v., 1 — 31. 

So in like manner the Holy Ghost, by the mouth and hand writing of 
the prophets, declare throughout ail ages, the awful condition and perilous 
situation of all descriptions of sinners, pronouncing sentence against them. 

But with those who have laid hold of and gladly embraced the extended 
hand and thereby availed themselves of the oportunity of being reconciled 
to. God, the case is different, (for imformation read Xsa. xxvii., 5 ; Jere. 
xxix., 11.) For the Apostle writing to believers in Christ, concerning the 
right hand of God, the great and glorious Saviour, saith, " And ye are 
complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In 
whom also ye' are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, 
in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of 
Christ : Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him, 
through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the 
dead. And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your 
flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all tres- 
passes : Blotting out the hand writing of ordinances that was against us, 
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Col. ii., 10 — 14. 

But in order to show you a little what it is for mankind to walk after 
their own thoughts, I will refer you to the days before the flood, when it 
was said, " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the 
earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only 
evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the 
earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy 
man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and 
beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth 
me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the 
Lord." Gen. vi., 5—8. 

Consequently, Noah was called l>y divine grace, and preserved in the 
ark, God bearing witness that he had seen him righteous in that genera- 
tion. But I wish you to remember, that Noah's righteousness was of faith, 
because he believed God. Therefore do not suppose there were no moral, 
nor religious people at that time, because God complained of the thoughts 
and imaginations of their hearts being evil. For every thought and im- 
agination that is contrary and opposed to Divine Truth, and God's way 
and plan of salvation, is evil in the sight of the Lord. 

Hence the acknowledgment of the great Apostle, " I verily thought 
with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of 
Jesus of Nazareth, which things I also did in Jerusalem : and many of the 
saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief 
priests ; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. 
And I punished them oft in every synagogue and compelled them to blas- 
pheme : and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even 
unto strange cities." Acts xxvi., 9 — 1 1 . 

We are also shown by the Lord himself that even the shock of the 
deluge, did not eradicate eyil thoughts and wicked imaginations from the 



6 



hearts of those eight persons who survived, and "their natural descendants. 
For it is written, " And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord : and took 
of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings 
on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and the Lord said in 
his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for 
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth ; neither will I again 
smite any more every thing living, as I have done, While the earth re- 
maineth, seed time aud harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and win- 
ter, and day and night shall not cease." Gen, viii., 20 — 22. 

Here was a precious indication of temporal and spiritual blessings, in- 
tended by God to be extended over all the earth, and enjoyed by mankind 
at large to a certain extent, notwithstanding their evil propensities, al- 
though he gave no positive promise; reserving to himself the discretion- 
ary power of extending, or contracting his favors, according as men act to- 
wards him. 

From this period we may reckon the day of grace to have commenced, and 
consider it the day alluded to in the text, for Noah his household, and a 
portion of everything living were saved by grace, through faith, from the 
general ruin. 

Thus God taught man with a high hand and a stretched arm, and with 
fury poured out, where he should look for salvation. But as men began 
again to multiply upon the face of the earth, theyjost sight of it, and poor 
short-sighted unregenerated souls, began to think of working out their own 
salvation, and they commenced building the tower of Babel, in order to at- 
tain to heaven by the work of their own hands, thus " Walking in a way 
that was not good, after their own thoughts." 

Nevertheless, I wish you to observe, that these were what is commonly 
•called a religious people. For they believed there was a God, and a heaven, 
and they were laboring hard to get there. But their zeal of God was 
not according to that knowledge which is essential to salvation, (for proof 
read Rom. x.,2 — 4; Eph. ii., 8—22,) consequently the subject deserves not 
only your gravest consideration, but a strict examination into your spiritu- 
al state, for this was a great stumbling block to Job. He also being 
" Walking in a way that was not good, after his own thoughts." 

If you examine the scriptures on this point, you may find that while 
Moses and the children of Israel were in the wilderness, he commanded 
them saying, " Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this 
day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. For ye are not as 
yet come to the rest, (read Heb. iv., 1 — 11; Isa. xi., 10 — 16; xxviii., 12; 
xxx., 7 — 21 ; Psa. cxvi., 1 — 14; Matt, xi., 28, 29; Jere. vi., 16—24; Hab. 
iii., 16,) and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you. 
But when ye go over Jordan, (or pass from death unto life, read John v., 
24 — 27,) and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to 
inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, 
so that'ye dwell in safety ; Then there shall be a place which the Lord 
your God shall chose to cause his name to dwell there : thither shall ye 
bring all that I command you ; (for information read Ezek. xx., 40—44 ; 
John xii.. 32 — 36; Mai. iii., 10 — 12,) your burnt offerings and your sacri- 
fices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand and all your choice 
vows, which ye vow unto the Lord : Take heed to thyself that thou offer 
not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest." Deut. xii., 8—13. 

Consequently when their offspring, who professed to serve God, diso- 
beyed this command, by walking in a way that was not good, after their 



own thoughts, God sent the prophet to them pronouncing them " A peo- 
ple that provoketh me to anger continually to my face ;" Because unlike 
open reprobates who publicly turn their back upon God, and consequently 
present nothing to God, neither seek his face, nor court his favor, these 
professing Israelites were presenting to God as an acceptable sacrifice, the 
work of their own hands, according to their own thoughts, and hoping 
thereby to obtain heaven and eternal felicity. 

Hence the further complaint, " that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth 
incense upon altars of brick ;" You are probably aware thatlthe church of 
God, where the true and spiritual worship of the living God is established, 
is called a garden, (see Songs iv., 12 — 16; Isa. li., 3.) So also the places 
where false and idolatrous worship is established, may be called gardens. 

Brick you know are made from clay. The builders of Babel used brick, 
which was of the earth ; earthy clay represents our nature, therefore saith 
the Apostle, " The first man is of the earth, earthy." Consequently every 
thing that springs from himself is also earthy, " So then they that are in 
the flesh cannot please God." Rom. viii., 8. 

In view of this, God complains of all those who are in a state of nature, 
and yet profess to worship him, as burning incense upon altars of brick ; 
Because the only altar upon which incense can come up with acceptance 
before God, is Christ, (read Heb. xiii., 10 — 16,) who is an altar of virgin 
earth, or stone, unpolished by man. 

Consequently God spake to his people in old time, saying, " An altar of 
earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offer- 
ings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen : in all places 
where I record my name I will come unto thee. And I will bless thee. And 
if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn 
stone : for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." Exod. 
xx., 24, 25. 

Therefore, agreeable to another portion of the text, Those who sacrifice 
in gardens, and burn incense upon altars of brick, " remain among the 
graves, and lodge in the monuments, (for information read Matt, xxiii., 27 — 
32,) which eat swine's flesh, (or unclean spiritual food, not feeding by faith 
on Christ,) and broth of abominable things is in their vessels," (for expla- 
nation read Matt, xxiii., 25, 26; 1st Cor., x., 20, 21.) Yet, notwithstand- 
ing all this, so great is their blindness and ignorance of the spirituality of 
God's word, they consider themselves holy, and look around with disdain 
upon others, whom they consider less so, saying, " Stand by thyself, come 
not near to me ; for I am holier than thou." But what saith the Lord, 
" These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day." 

Is it not of the utmost importance then that you should examine your- 
self carefully, lest you should be found among that class of whom the 
Lord complains in the text ? for those were doubtless great professors of 
religion, or they would not have considered themselves holier than others. 
It is true they did not profess the religion of Jesus, because Jesus had not 
then appeared in the flesh. But they professed to be the people of God, 
and thought they served God acceptably, but you see God would not own 
them, nor acknowledge their services to be such as he required. And how 
many thousands and millions of people are there at the present day, to 
whom the words of the text are applicable, as well as then ? For they 
walk after their own thoughts. 

I have already shown you, that the Holy Ghost, and Christ, are the 
hands and arms of God, but in order to show you more conspicuously how 



God spreads out his hands all the day, it may be necessary to examine 
God's work, and trace his dealings with mankind, because the language of 
the text is not only figurative, but the act is emblematical, for God takes 
the position, uses the figure, and assumes the attitude of a man spreading 
out his hands to his enemies, in token of friendship and good will, mani- 
festing a desire for reconciliation and peace, that henceforth they may live 
on terms of intimacy together. (For proof, read 2d Cor. vi., 17, 18.) And 
as God speaks, and acts by his spirit in his servants, they may be con- 
sidered as representing to a certain extent both his right and left hand. 
Those under the old dispensation represent more particularly his left hand, 
" For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man : bu t holy men 
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2d Pet., i., 21. 
And again it is declared. " The law was given by Moses, but grace and 
truth came by Jesus Christ." John i., 17. 

Both the law and the prophets came under the immediate operation of 
the Holy Ghost ; by these God taught, and still does teach his people. Here 
his left hand was, and is spread out, pointing to the power and influence 
of his right hand, by which we have access to the Father of mercies, there- 
fore saith the Apostle, " Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were 
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the 
scriptures might have hope," Rom. xv., 4. And again he saith : " The 
law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justi- 
fied by faith." Gal. iii., 24. This agrees with the testimony of Christ 
himself, saying: "Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned 
of the Father cometh unto me," John, vi., 45; see also, Gal. iii., 19. In 
consequence of this, Jesus gave mankind a caution, saying, "Think not 
that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to 
destroy, but to fulfil," Matt, v., 17. And as a consequence of this Paul 
declares, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that 
believeth." Rom. x., 4. 

Here we may observe God's left hand in Paul, pointing, or directing the 
seeking soul to the right hand of his righteousness and strength, as saith 
Jesus, " He shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew 
it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine ; therefore said I, 
that he shall take of mine and shall shew it unto you." John, xvi., 14, 15. 

As a consequence of this, Paul viewed Christ as God's representative in 
full. He being the Ark of the covenant, in him may be seen both the 
cherubims and the mercy-seat. " For it pleased the Father that in him 
should all fulness dwell ;" Col. i., 19. " Who being the brightness of his 
glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the 
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the 
right hand of the Majesty on high ; Being made so much better than the 
angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than 
they." Heb. i., 3, 4. 

In view of this, Jesus is spoken of in the old Testament, as, " The angel 
of the covenant, and the angel of His presence." Therefore he saith, 
" Surely they are my people, children that will not lie : so he was their 
Saviour. In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his pres- 
ence saved them : in his love and in his pity he redeemed them ; and he 
bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Isa. lxiii., 9; see also, 
Exod. xxxiii., 2, 14, Mai. iii., 1 — 6. Jacob makes mention of this angel, as 
being his redeemer, when blessing the two sons of Joseph, saying, " The 
angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads." Gen. xlviii., 16. 



8 



If y ou wish to know the circumstance which led to this declaration 
by Jacob, read Gen. xxxii., 24 — 30 ; and for corresponding circumstances, 
read Psa. iii., 1 — 8 ; eiii., 1 — 14; Luke, i., 68 — 75 ; ii., 38 — 40; xxiv., 21— 
27; Gal. iii., 13, 14; 1st Pel, i„ 18—23; 1st Cor., i., 30, 31; Eph. i., 7; 
Col. L 1—29. 

And the prophet calling to this glorious hand and arm of the Lord, saith, 
"Awake, awake, put on strength arm of the Lord, awake as in the an- 
cient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab 
and wounded the dragon ?" Isa. li., 9. 

And then foreseeing the advent of Christ, he declared " The Lord hath 
made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations ; and all the ends 
of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." Isa. Iii., 10. 

After this, he asks the all-important question : " Who hath believed 
our report ? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? (for explana- 
tion, read, Matt, xvi., 15 — 17.) For he shall grow up before him as a 
tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground ; he hath no form or come- 
liness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should de- 
sire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and ac- 
quainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was de- 
spised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and 
carried our sorrows ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and 
afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for 
our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and with his 
stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned 
every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity 
of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his 
mouth ; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before 
her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He is taken from pris- 
on and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation ? for he was 
cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people 
was he stricken." Isa. liii., 1—8. 

Then again the same prophet confirms the covenant, by declaring-, 
" The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, 
go through, go through the gates ; prepare ye the way of the people ; cast 
up, cast up the highway : gather out the stones : lift up a standard for the 
people. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, 
(mind that.) Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation 
cometh ; behold his reward is with him, and his work before him." Isa. 
Ixii., 8—11. 

The Psalmist also beareth witness for God saying. " They got not the 
land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save 
them : but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy counte- 
nance, because thou hadst a favor unto them." Psa. xliv., 3 ; Deut. xxxiii., 
3 ; Luke, x., 38 — 42. Consequently he exhorts the people of God in most 
endearing strains, saying, " sing unto the Lord a new song : for he hath 
done marvelous things : his right hand, and his Holy arm, hath gotten 
him the victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation : his righteous- 
ness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remem- 
bered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel, all the ends of 
the earth have seen the salvation of our God." Psa. xcviii., 1 — 3. 

Therefore it is written, "And it shall be said in that day, Lo this is 
our God: we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; 
we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For 



9 



in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trod- 
den down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. 
And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that 
swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim ; and he shall bring* down 
their pride, together with the spoils of their hands." Isa. xxv., 9 — II. 

Here is plainly predicted the manner in which the hands of the Lord 
Jesus Christ were to be spread out upon the cross, to the fullest extent. 
And so we may behold the hands of God spread out to the fullest extent 
to receive within his Divine embrace, lost and perishing sinners. To whom 
he speaks in the most positive manner, saying, " In returning and rest shall 
ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength : " Isa. 
xxx., 15; Heb. vii., 24 — 26. For " Even from the days of your fathers ye 
are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return 
unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, 
Wherein shall we return ?" Mai. iii., 7. 

At the dedication of the first temple at Jerusalem, Solomon prayed to 
God in behalf of his people, saying, " If they sin against thee, (for there 
is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them and deliver 
them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land 
of the enemy, far or near: yet if they shall bethink themselves in the 
land whither they are carried captives, and repent, and make supplication 
unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We 
have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness : 
and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the 
land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee 
toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which 
thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name : Then 
hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, 
and maintain their cause. And forgive thy people that have sinned 
against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed 
against thee." 1st Kings, viii., 46—50. 

We have abundant evidence in the old Testament, that God was pleas- 
ed to grant the requests of Solomon in this petition, for he answered, time 
after time, experimentally, the prayers of the repenting Israelites under the 
old dispensation. And in the parable of the prodigal son, our Lord sets 
it forth in a more striking manner, because it is not only a personal thing, 
but is to be individually felt and experienced. 

How long then ere you cease to walk in a wrong way ? after your own 
thoughts ? Do you not observe the hands of God spread out unto you ? Will 
you still rebel ? Hear what is declared by the sweet psalmist of Israel 
" Fools because of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities, are 
afflicted. Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned 
the counsel of the most High." Psa. cvii., 11, 17. For God commands 
you to come out from the world and the vanities thereof, to forsaken sin, 
to cease from your own doings, acknowledge your offences, seek imputed 
righteousness, and lay hold of Christ, through whom alone you can obtain 
peace and reconcilation with God, (see Isa. xxvii., 5; Eph. ii., 14; Rom. 
v., 1—6.) Therefore it is written, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord (Jesus) 
and he shall sustain thee." Psa. lv., 22. And Jesus himself invites you, 
saying, " Come unto me, all ye that labor, (at the works of the law, for 
life and salvation,) and are heavy laden, (with sin) and I will give you 
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and low- 
ly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matt. xi„ 28, 29. 
2 



10 



And the apostle encourages you by declaring, " We which have believed 
do enter into rest. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceas- 
sed from his own works, as God did from his." Heb. iv., 3, 10. 

Therefore the spouse of Christ is represented as saying, " As the apple 
tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons, I sat 
down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my 
taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me 
was love." Songs ii., 3, 4. 

Would not such kind treatment be of importance to your soul ? why 
then do you not court his favor, and earnestly seek to obtain his love and 
affection ? He invites you, saying, " Let me see thy countenance, let me 
hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely," 
Songs ii., 14. (Do you ask in what way? read, John, i., 47 — 51, and you 
will find that it is in visiting a throne of grace, and pouring out thy soul 
in prayer to the most High.) He also declares to his intended, "Thou 
hast ravished my heart my sister, (for explanation of sister, see Matt, xii., 
49, 50,) my spouse, thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes." 
Songs, iv., 9. 

May you then be brought to know and feel, that all hope of heaven and 
eternal happiness centres in him, and unless you can obtain him, you will 
be miserable for ever. Thus your affections will be fixed so firmly on him 
that you will look to him with the eye of faith so steadily, and so earnest- 
ly, that the desire of your heart will penetrate his tender heart, and cause 
hitn to manifest to thy soul his love aud affection for thee, according to all 
thy desire. As it is written, "They looked unto him, and were lightened; 
and their faces were not ashamed." Psa. xxxiv., 5. Therefore saith the 
Apostle, " We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the 
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by 
the Spirit of the Lord" 2d Cor., iii., 18; iv., 6; Rom. viii., 29. 

Look unto him then poor sinner, be earnest and persevere, send forth 
the inward groaning and sighing petitions of thy soul abundantly, and prove 
to him that you are in earnest for salvation, for deliverance from sin, Satan, 
and the law, and to be experimentally reconciled to, and accepted of God. 

Plead guilty, like the prodigal, and like the publican in the temple, ac- 
knowledge your unworthiness, resign yourself up to God's will, and throw 
yourself into the arms of mercy, chosing rather to die at the feet of 
Christ, than at a distance from him, " For the eye of the Lord is upon 
them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy : To deliver their 
soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine." Psa. xxxiii., 18, 19. 

I am aware that you may feel considerably the ill effect of unbelief, 
doubts and fears, and experience a great deal of tossing to and fro in your 
mind, and probably realize in your soul's experience, the words of wisdom, 
that "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and 
their contentions are like the bars of a castle." Prov. xviii., 19. But re- 
member " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take 
it by force." Therefore do not give in, try your hardest. Remember 
how Jacob wrestled, and prevailed, and you may do the same. See how 
Joseph, who was a type of Christ, tried his brethren, until they condemned 
themselves in his hearing. Behold the patience and determination of Job, 
who declared, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Job. xiii., 
15. Look also at the poor woman who interceded for her daughter; she 
experienced many rebuffs, but she persevered until she obtained all her 
desire. For proof read, Matt, xv., 22—28. 



11 



Therefore remember the word of the Lord to his disciples, saying 
"What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch." Mark, xiii., 37. Watch 
the enemy of thy soul, watch thy own evil heart and inclinations, watch 
thy words, keep the door of thy lips that thy tongue speak no guile, watch 
the hand of the Lord toward thee, for his hands are spread out and mani- 
fested in various ways. 

In his general providence. In his general judgments. In his peculiar 
judgments for the correction and instruction of his people. As also in his 
peculiar providence toward the same. This is sometimes called the good 
hand of God, whereby he is pleased to make known in a conspicuous man- 
ner, his everlasting love, keeping care, guardian protection, and tender 
compassion, notwithstanding all their unworthiness. By this he proves 
his faithfulness to his covenant engagements, and fulfils the declaration of 
the prophet, saying, " The hand of the Lord shall be known toward his 
servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. For, behold, the Lord 
will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his 
anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire. For by fire and by 
his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh : and the slain of the Lord 
shall be many." Isa. lxvi., 14 — 16. 

Thus you see, we may behold the hands of God spread out all the day 
long to a rebellious people, both in judgments and in mercies in a tem- 
poral point of view, as well as in a spiritual point of view, (read Isa. xxvi., 
8 — 11, Matt, v., 45.) And you are aware that there are many glorious 
manifestations of the spreading out of the hands of God in a spiritual 
point of view recorded in the sacred scriptures, wherein God is pleased to 
make known to man his good will and pleasure, and what he requires of 
him; announcing the blessings attending obedience, and the punishment 
attending disobedience. If peradventure they might ultimately consider, 
understand, and feel that He loves them. Not for worth or worthiness 
in them, but because he would love them, agreeable to his own declaration, 
saying, " I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore with loving 
kindness have I drawn thee." Jere. xxxi., 3; see also, Exod. xxxiv., 9; 
Deut. vii., 8, 9; ix., 6; x., 14 — 16; xxxiii., 3. 

While the Lord was leading the children of Israel through the wilder- 
ness, he gave them Manna from heaven to eat. But they wept again, and 
said "Who shall give us flesh to eat? And Moses said unto the Lord, 
Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? And wherefore have I found 
favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me ? 
Have I conceived all this people ? have I begotten them, that thou shouldst 
say unto me, carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father beareih the 
sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? 
Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people ? for they weep 
unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. (Compare this with Job, 
xxxi., 31 ; John, vi., 32 — 58.) And the Lord said unto Moses, Say thou 
unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat 
flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give 
us flesh to eat? (read Psa. xcv., 9 — 11,) for it was well with us in Egypt: 
therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat 
one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days. 
But eyen a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be 
loathsome unto you; because that ye have despised the Lord which is 
among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out 
of Egypt? 



\ 



12 



And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred 
thousand footmen : and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they 
may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, 
to suffice them j or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for 
them, to suffice them ? 

And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou 
shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. 

And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from 
the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this 
side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side round about the 
camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And 
the people stood up all that clay and all that night, and all the next day, 
and they gathered the quails ; he that gathered least had ten homers, and 
they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. (See 
how diligently they labored for the meat which perisheth, but instead of 
obtaining the blessing of the Lord with it, the curse overtook them.) 
And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the 
wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the 
people with a very great plague." Num. xi. ? 4, 11, 12, 13, 18 — 23, 
31—33. 

In this case the hand of the Lord was known toward his servants, and 
his indignation toward his enemies, because he cursed their blessings. But 
this was only his hand in providence and correction, not his glorious right 
hand, and the lighting down of his arm, as spoken of by the prophet, say- 
ing, " Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm 
shall rule for him ; behold his reward is with him, and his work before 
him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs 
with his arms and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that 
are with young." Isa. xl., 10, 11. 

Moses himself, speaking, or singing of this glorious right hand, saith, 
" Yea, he loved the people, all his saints are in thy hand ; and they sat 
down at thy feet : every one shall receive of thy words." Deut. xxxiii,, 3. 
For explanation read Luke, x., 39 — 42; John, x., 14 — 16, 27 — 30; xvi., 
13 — 15. Hence his interrogation of Peter, saying, " Simon son of Jonas, 
lovest thou me more than these ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; thou 
knowest that I love thee, (for loving much see Luke vii., 41 — 47.) He 
saith unto him, Feed my lambs ; and again, Feed my sheep." John, 
xxi., 15, 16. 

By this you may understand that although he is ascended on high, yet 
his servants represent him on the earth, standing as they do in his place to 
feed the flock of God, he being in them. Therefore he saith, " Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send (mind that) 
receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." 
John, xiii., 20. 

Thus you may observe the closeness of connection existing between the 
Father, Son, and members of his mystical body ; they being one Spirit 
with the Lord. For this reason it is written, " In the last day, that 
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, 
(for the water of life,) let him come unto me, and drink. He that believ- 
eth on me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow ..rivers of 
living water." (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on 
him should receive.) John vii., 37 — 39. 

Here I wish you to observe that this was not addressed to the apostles 



18 



alone. It was a general invitation to ail who felt their need. To all who 
thirsted for the pure water of that living fountain. Many days) after this 
invitation was given, the Apostle Paul, or rather Saul of Tarsus, drank freely 
at this fountain, and according to promise, the Lord satiated his thirsty- 
soul, for he was filled with the Holy Ghost. And when the Lord sent 
Peter to feed his sheep in the house of Cornelious, the Holy Ghost fell on 
all them which heard the word. Thus you see, they drank at the same 
fountain. And as it is ordained of God according to his system of grace, 
that all the election of grace shall be partakers of the Spirit. The Apos- 
tle wrote concerning the mystical body of Christ, saying, " as the body is 
one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being- 
many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all bap- 
tised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or 
free ; and have been all made to drink into one spirit." 1st. Cor. xii, 12, 13. 

Now, if all had been made to drink into one Spirit, before they could 
become true disciples of Christ, it follows that all must experience the 
same throughout time, otherwise they climb over the wall, instead of en- 
tering in at the door. Consequently to enable mankind to examine them- 
selves on this score the Apostle wrote, saying, " The carnal mind is enmi- 
ty against God : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can 
be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are 
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in 
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 
Rom. viii., 1 — 9. This shows conspicuously, who are true disciples, and 
who are not. 

Since his ascension to glory, our Lord hath been pleased to reveal him- 
self to his servant John, as holding in his right hand seven stars; and 
out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword ; and his countenance was as 
the sun shineth in his strength, (read Rev. i., 16.) And those stars are 
declared to be the angels of the churches. 

Thus it is evident that the right hand of God holds within its grasp, 
not only all the saints, but also all the spiritual affairs of the church. 
Because he is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the glorified lamb, who alone 
was found worthy either in heaven or earth to open the seals of the book. 
(See Rev. v., 1 — 9.) Consequently the stars not only move at his com- 
mand, but display brilliant or dwindling light, according to the influence 
they derive from him the sun of righteousness. 

But in order to show that the word of life had but very little effect on 
the hard hearts, thoughtless and impenitent minds, and dull comprehen- 
sion of sinners while the Saviour was personally among them, he de- 
clared, " All the prophets and the lav/ prophe^ed until John. And if ye 
will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come. He that hath ears to 
hear, let him hear. But whereunto shall I liken this generation ? It is 
like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 
And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced : (compare 
this with Ezek. xxxiii., 31—33.) We have mourned unto you, and ye 
have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they 
say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and 
they say, Behold, a man gluttonous, and a wine bibber, a friend of publi- 
cans and sinners. But Wisdom is justified of her children. Then began 
he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, 
because they repented not." Matt, xi., 13 — 20; read also 2d Cor. v., 10 — 
15; Acts xx., 31 ; Job xxxi., 23. 



u 



After this, he declared to his disciples in what maimer the Father 
would work with them by his left hand, after himself, the right hand, was 
departed from them, saying, " I tell you the truth: It is expedient for 
you that I go away : for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come 
unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is 
come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judg- 
ment. Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because 
I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; (for explanation read 2d Cor. 
v., 16.) Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." 
John xvi., 1 — 11. 

Therefore it is written of him, " Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast 
led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men: yea, for the 
rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." Psa. lxviii., 
18; Acts ii., 33. 

And all that receive this gift are made wise unto salvation, and become 
to a certain extent the representees of Christ. Therefore it is written, 
" The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters 
of assemblies, which are given from one Shepherd." Eccle. xii., 11. 

Consequently at this present time God is spreading out his hands in 
his people, as well as in the old and new testaments; to a rebellious people, 
which walketh in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts. 

This necessarily brings me to a more minute investigation of what is 
meant by people walking after their own thoughts. 

As I before observed, the words of the text were originally addressed 
to God's ancient people, the Jews; who not only professed to acknow- 
ledge a Supreme Being, but thought they served him, walking as they 
supposed in all the ordinances of his house, agreeable to the requirements 
of the law. 

Therefore God called to them, saying, " Hear the word of the Lord, ye 
children of Israel; for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants 
of the land, (mind what follows,) because there is no truth, nor mercy, 
nor knowledge of God in the land. My people are destroyed for lack of 
knowledge." Hos. iv., 1, 6. "They will not frame their doings to turn 
unto their God : for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and 
they have not known the Lord." Hos. v., 4; read also Isa. lix., 1, 15. 
Behold then how awfully they were deceived by the enemy of their souls. 

The Apostle Paul follows this up by declaring of those who existed in 
his days. " They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to estab- 
lish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righte- 
ousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to 
every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which 
is of the law. That the man which doeth these things shall live by them. 

But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not 
in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is to bring Christ down 
from above :) Or, Who shall descend into the deep ? (that is, to bring up 
Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it ? The word is nigh 
thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith, 
which we preach : That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord 
Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the 
dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto right- 
ousness: and with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation. For the 
scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For 



15 



there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek : for the same Lord 
over all, is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call 
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and 
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? and how 
shall they hear without a preacher ? And how shall they preach, except 
they be sent ? as it is* written, How beautiful are the feet of them that 
preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." 
Rom. x., 2 — 15. 

Can you not see here, a vast difference made between the law and the 
gospel? Examine the thoughts of thy heart then, and see whether you 
are walking after thoughts produced through the influence of divine wis- 
dom, or after your own thoughts. 

And I wish you to bear in mind, that although the great Apostle of 
the Gentiles condemned the Jews in bulk, as being false worshippers while 
they remained in an unregenerated state, and as walking after their own 
thoughts. Yet he did not stop there, but condemned himself also, mak- 
ing an open confession of the awful state and condition of his own soul 
while he walked in a way that was not good, after his own thoughts, (for 
proof read Acts xxvi., 9, 10,) having conceived erroneous opinions almost 
from his infancy, which in time were brought forth, nourished, cherished, 
and strengthened, by those who taught the people. 

The Jews were a people professedly zealous of good works, but they 
were ignorant of the spiritual extent of the law. They were not aware 
that it reached to the thoughts and intents of the heart. Their priests 
did not teach them that the law was spiritual, and themselves carnal, sold 
under sin, (for proofread John viii., 33, 34; Hos. iv., 6 — 11,) which was 
really and truly the case, (see Rom. vii., 14 — 16,) and which totally dis- 
abled them from fulfilling its requirements in God's sight. 

It is true, they were circumcised the eighth day after they were born, 
and by that act were considered as initiated into the Jewish church, and as 
they grew up, they observed (as a general rule) all the outward forms and 
ceremonies of the law, walking (according to outward appearance) in all 
the ordinances of God. Submitting to the requirements, and performing 
the obligations imposed on them by their teachers, the priests. 

But as God looketh to, and searcheth the heart, this was neither yield- 
ing a perfect spiritual obedience to the law, nor worshipping God in spirit 
and in truth, agreeable to what he requires. (See John iv., 24.) There- 
fore the Apostle declared, " Circuracission availeth nothing, nor uncir- 
cumcission, but a new creature." Gal. vi., 15. For he is not a (real) 
Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that (real) circumcission which is 
outward in the flesh: But he is a (real) Jew, which is one inwardly; and 
(real) circumcission is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; 
whose praise is not of men, but of God." Rom. ii., 28, 29. 

This shows very conspicuously, that everything short of the final regen- 
eration of the soul, is incomplete. 

It is very evident that the thoughts of mankind differ widely, not only 
in regard to the mode of worshipping God, but also in the way and man- 
ner by which they expect to obtain the eternal salvation of their soul. 

Some think if they are baptized in their infancy, in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, whereby they take 
upon them the christian name, learn the Catechism, and what is called 
the Apostles' creed, &c, &c, so as to be enabled to answer certain ques- 



16 



tions asked them by the priest or minister, and bishop, by which they may 
obtain confirmation, and thus be considered a complete, or real member 
of the Church, and entitled to all christian privileges, partaking of the 
Lord's supper, &c, &c. ; being only required to attend the service, and ob- 
serve the forms and ceremonies of the Church, such as keeping holy days, 
fasting, or, abstaining from eating meat on certain days ; or on certain occa- 
sions, give alms, confess their sins to a man in holy- orders, receive forgive- 
ness, or do pennance, for certain faults and failings, and pay fees; then 
they suppose they are safe for heaven. 

But wherein is this better than the Jewish religion % Yea, it appears 
to be building on the very ruins of the Jewish church. Only the name of 
Christ is used instead of Moses, and water baptism substituted for circum- 
cission. But as a set-off against this, their people are instructed to pray 
to saints and angels, a thing the Jews would not be guilty of. And when 
the Galatians were discovered in observing days and times like the Jews, 
the Apostle Paul wrote to them, saing, u How be it then, when ye 
knew not Gocl, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how 
turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire 
again to be in bondage ? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and 
years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. 
Gal. iv„ 8—11. 

Consequently the members of this church, and all others who take up a 
similar position, being content with a name to live, while they are dead in 
sin, and* destitute of that inward adorning, the Spirit of Christ, (see Rom. 
viii., 9,) are evidently walking in a way that is not good, after their own 
thoughts. Thoughts conceived, or imbibed almost from their infancy, 
(like Saul of Tarsus,) nourished, cherished and strengthened, until brought 
forth into active service, by their teachers, or others actuated by blind zeal, 
under a form of godliness, while they deny the power thereof, " Therefore 
the Lord will cut off from (spiritual) Israel (or the heirs of promise) head 
and tail, branch and rush in one day. The ancient and honorable, he is 
the head ; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the lead- 
ers of this people cause them to err ; and they that are led of them are de- 
stroyed." Isa. ix., 14 — 16. 

How awful their condition. Yet these unfortunate beings, these delu- 
ded, nominal christians, who have been brought up (like the Jews) under 
a form of godliness, have been taught to form false ideas, embrace and 
cherish erroneous notions, and have become so settled in opinion that it is 
as hard to dissuade them from the course they are pursuing as it is the 
Jew, though both are equally in a lost condition. 

The scriptures abound with proof that God requires from man a far high- 
er, and more exalted service than forms and ceremonies. You are aware 
that all emperors, kings, queens, and governors, have a capital, a seat of 
government. And where is God's seat of government in man ? It is his 
heart and affections. If God does not reign supreme there, that man is 
not under the government of heaven, no matter what religion he professes. 
Consequently God calls, saying, " My son give me thine heart, and let 
thine eyes observe my ways." Pro. xxiii., 26. For I have before declared 
(as if he had said that) "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deut. vi., 5. 
And Jesus requires us to leave all and follow him. 

It is doubtful whether many real christians are properly aware of their 



17 



exalted position in the sight of God. The Apostle speaking of what 
Christ hath done for his people, saith, " He hath made us kings and priests 
unto God and his Father." Is it at all comely then, that kings and priests 
should be vassals ? Our Lord put a question to Peter, saying, " Of whom 
do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute ? of their own children, 
or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers; Jesus saith unto him, 
Then are the children free." Matt. xvh\, 25, 26. 

The Apostle writing of those false teachers who wished to circumcise 
those who believed among the Galatians, so that they might bind them to 
keep the law of Moses, and thereby hold their souls in vassalage, said, " I 
would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye have 
been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the fleshj 
but by love serve one anothen For all the law is fulfilled in one word, 
even in this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Gal. v 4 , 12—14; 

But the judgment of mankind being weak, aud their powers of percep- 
tion shallow, they are constantly inclining to vassalage, not being able to 
discern between good and evil, or between bondage and liberty. Sin be- 
ing deceitful, the enemy of the soul crafty and subtle, through shifting^ 
shuffling, and maneuvering, he exercises a powerfnl influence over man- 
kind to keep them in darkness and ignorance in respect to divine knowledge. 

Such was the case with those Jews who professed to believe in Jesus. 
But as he knew their condition better than they themselves knew, he 
said to them, " If ye shall continue in my word, then are ye my disciples 
indeed ; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free; 
They answered him, we be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage 
to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? (Thus you see 
they were insensible of their bondage to sin and Satan, they were not ac- 
quainted with any bondage but a temporal bondage, and as they had never 
been slaves literally, they thought he spoke inconsistently. But in or- 
der to convince them of their spiritual bondage, he said) Verily, verily, I 
say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." John viii.j 
31 — 34; read also, Rom. vi., 6—23. 

If those men had been acquainted with their true state and condition, 
felt their bondage to sin and Satan, they would have called on him for 
help, and he would have delivered them. But they felt no need, they 
were not in trouble, consequently they called not upon the Lord, who saith, 
" Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt 
glorify me." Psa. 1., 15. For this is the Saviour's work, this is what he 
came to do, for proof read Isa. Ixi., 1—3; Luke, iv., 18; Rom. viii., 18, 
21; Gal. v., 1. 

Consequently it is very evident, that instead of teachers lulling souls into 
carnal security, they should enforce the laws of heaven, show the ne- 
cessity of experimental religion, the enjoyment of spiritual union and fel- 
lowship with God in Christ, this being the one thing needful; for proof 
read, John, iii., 3—6; xv>, 5—10; 1st Cor. vi., 17; 2d Cor. iii., 11. 

This is not all, it behoves all denominations of professing christians to 
examine well, in order to ascertain whether their creed is compiled agreea- 
ble to divine truth, and their belief is according to the will of God. Oth- 
erwise they may be found walking in a way that is not good, after their 
own thoughts, or the thoughts of others equally as erroneous, and conse- 
quently come under the lash of the text. 

The scriptures are doubtless intended for general use, and all should be 
at liberty to read them and examine for themselves. At the same time it 
3 



18 



is evident that all do not understand them. And those who do not, of 
course are not competent to expound them to others. Consequently when 
such persons, or those whose understanding is darkened through the igno- 
rance that is in them, undertake to expound scripture, it is very apt to be 
misinterpreted, and sometimes warped to answer some particular end 
agreeable to their own views, instead of being explained according to truth, 
This of course would be walking in a way that is not good, after their own 
thoughts, (instead of following Christ in the regeneration,) because they 
think they can see, when they are spiritually blind, " and if the blind lead 
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." 

Some persons ask the question, " What do you suppose will become of 
those poor souls who never saw the scriptures ? " I answer, such souls are 
as near heaven, as many poor souls who have the scriptures, and read them, 
because the mere reading of scripture, or hearing them read, is not suffi- 
cient. Neither is it the quantity of reading we get through with that we 
are to calculate on as being beneficial to the mind. A little important 
reading well digested is likely to enlighten and illuminate the mind 
more than volumes of unsubstantial matter. Consequently it is necessary 
we should pay strict attention, to what we read, and endeavor to 
benefit by it. And if it be good, and we receive it in faith, it will work 
a change in the mind, that must show itself in the actions of the faithful 
observer. Therefore saith Jesus, "Not every one that saith unto me, 
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth 
the will of my father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that 
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name 
cast out devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ? And then 
will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that 
work iniquity." Matt, vii., 21—23. 

Thus you see, It is declared by the Saviour, that they are walking all 
the time in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts. Have you 
not need to be cautious then ? Do you not know what is written, " The 
ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his 
goings." Pro. v., 21. 

Therefore "Keep thy heart with all diligence ; for out of it are the issues 
of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far 
from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look 
straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy w T ays 
be established." Pro. iv., 23 — 26. 

The serious and attentive reading of the scriptures, is what I wish to 
call your attention to. Being convinced that the more you read, (if you 
read aright,) the more you will find them condemn you. And if you have 
not already been convinced, convicted and condemned, and then received 
a free pardon from God, I hope you soon will, for this is very needful. 

Therefore seek to know your true state and condition. Ask wisdom and 
understanding from above and the gift of God's holy spirit to guide you 
into all truth, that you may understand the spiritual import of what you 
read. And not be like the Jews, who for the want of these things, 
divided themselves into different sects, or denominations, being called by 
different names, but knew nothing experimentally of God, or Christ. There- 
fore when Jesus was among them in the flesh, he said to the Pharisees, 
" Go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy, and not sacri- 
fice ; for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 
Matt, ix., 13. And to the Sadducees, he said, "Ye do err, not knowing 
the scriptures, nor the power of God." — Matt, xxii., 29. 



19 



Thus you see, they were walking in a way that was not good, after 
their own thoughts. Take heed then lest you be found treading in their 
steps, instead of following the footsteps of the flock of God, for it is cer- 
tain you must die to sin, self, and the law, before you can be made 
thoroughly alive unto God, so as to bring forth fruit to the honor and glory 
of his grace. And in order that you might know this, the Apostle de- 
clared, "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." 2d Cor., iii., 6. 

" For I was alive without the law, once, but when the commandment 
came, sin revived, and I died." — Rom. vii. 9. And Mr. Kent experienc- 
ing the same, composed on this text the following lines, which may be 
sung in long metre. 

While legal hope, my mind possess'd, 
My soul could in the preceipt rest, 
Tho' bound by sin, I thought me free, 
And lived a boasting Pharisee. 

o 

Trusting to refuges of lies, 
I reared my Babel to the skies, 
Could Sinai's awful thunder brave, 
And thought my doings great to save. 

Thus in- my native filth I stood, 
A stranger to myself and God : 
My heart a cage of birds unclean, 
In every thought and act obscene. 

But glory to eternal grace, 

The law revealed my desperate case ; 

Bound hand and foot with chains of sin, 

A worthless wretch defiled within. # 

I heard its threats, was filled with dread, 
Trembling I stood, while thus it said : 
" From hence, from death there's no reprieve, 
Thy soul must die, or do and live." 

Then naked to the cross I tied, 
Where Jesus once for sinners bled, 
And filled with sorrow, sins, and fear, 
Was glad to take my refuge there. 

And again, speaking in reference to the right way, he saith : 

The way to the Father, 

Is Jesus the Son, 
In all that he suffered, 

In all that he done; 
And this shall the heralds, 

Of Jesus declare, 
'Till folded in Zion, 

His sheep shall appear. 

The true and faithful heralds of Jesus dare point out no other way, 
and while they are describing, God hath declared to those who pay good 



20 



attention, " Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the 
way, walk ye in it." Isa. xxx., 21. 

May the Lord be pleased to add his blessing. I add no more, but remain 
thine to serve in the bonds of the Gospel. Frederick Hasted. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Written on these Words: 

« But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel 
unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gos- 
pel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Gal. i., 8, 9. 

Jn calling your serious attention to the words before me, I wish to re- 
mind you, that in them, three very important points are presented for the 
solemn consideration of all whom it may concern. 

The first and most important point to be understood is, " The Gospel," 
or in other words for us to ascertain correctly, what he means by " Gospel." 

The second point is, The positive declaration contained in the words, 
w Which we have preached unto yon, and which ye have received." 

The third point is, No matter how high the authority, whether any of 
the Apostles, or an angel from heaven. If they deviate from the great 
fundamental doctrine of the gospel as preached by Paul and his compan- 
ions in labor, so as to adulterate, or leaven it with the leaven of the Phari- 
sees, dress it ii#another garb, or make and preach a spurious gospel, " Let 
him be accursed." 

This denunciation ought to operate at all times, and in all places, as a 
solemn warning to all who take upon them to speak in the name of the 
Lord, for the Apostle who uttered, it, declared, " Jesus Christ sent me not 
to baptize, but to preach the gospel." And again he exclaimed, " Woe 
is unto ine, if I preach not the gospel." 1st Cor., i., 17 — 19; ix., 16. 

And when Jesus commissioned his disciples, " He said unto them, Go 
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ; He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be 
damned." Mark xvi., 15, 16. 

Here you see it was the gospel they were all commanded to preach, and 
nothing but the gospel. Therefore this curse would also rest on them if 
they preach not the gospel of Christ, and so fully persuaded was Paul of 
the truth and soundness of the doctrine he had preached to the Galatians, 
and which they had received in the spirit and power thereof, that he felt 
confident none who were, or should thereafter be sent of God, could 
with the least degree of propriety deviate from it. Consequently he sol- 
emnly denounced all who do it. Because, though it should be even possi- 
ble that any of the Apostles should do this they would be betraying their 
trust and their Master, like Judas, 

In consequence of this, it behoves us seriously to consider, and dili- 
gently enquire what the Apostle preached, and what he called gospel, for 



21 



it is very evident that what he preached, they received as coming from God, 
as himself declared, saying, " Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh 
I preached the gospel unto you at the first, and my temptation which was 
in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected ; but received me as an angel of 
God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of ? 
for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked 
out your own eyes, and have given them to me." Gal. iv., 13 — 15. 

Here you see they displayed unbounded gratitude for the benefits and 
blessings they experimentally received at the Lord's hands through the in- 
strumentality of the Apostle. Yet notwithstanding all this, in a short 
time, during the Apostle's absence, a reaction took place among them in 
favor of forms and ceremonies, through the influence of false teachers, which 
well nigh drew them aside. Consequently he wrote to them, saying, " 
foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the 
truth? before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, cruci- 
fied among you ?" Gal. iii., 1. 

Now, we might infer from these last words, that, not only did the Apostle 
preach Christ Jesus, and him crucified, to them, but that Christ Jesus had 
also revealed himself to the eyes of their understanding, as crucified for 
their sins. Agreeable to the declaration of the prophet, who spake by 
the spirit of the Lord, saying, " They shall look upon me whom they 
have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only 
son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his 
first born." Zech. xii., 10. 

And from this experimental knowledge arose their conviction that the 
Apostle was sent of God, because God spoke to their souls by his mouth. 
Consequently when they were about to be carried away by the false doc- 
trine of those who -wished to bind them to keep the law of Moses, after 
they had been delivered from its curse through faith in the Saviour, he 
wrote to them saying, " This only would I learn of you, Received ye the 
spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ? (and then, as 
if he had received their answer, saying, By the hearing of faith, he pro- 
ceeded to ask again,) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the spirit, are 
ye now made perfect by the flesh." Gal. iii., 2, 3 ; read also Acts x., 42 — 
48; xi., 1—18; 1st Cor., vii., 17—24. 

Here we may see the Apostle contending for the same doctrine as was 
preached by Christ himself, saying, " It is the spirit that quickeneth : the 
flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, 
and they are life," John vi., 63. Again Paul bears testimony to the Ephe- 
sians, saying, " And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses 
and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this 
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now 
worketh in the children of disobedience," Eph. ii., 1, 2. So then u Faith 
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. x., 17. 

Now, as Paul preached Christ Jesus, and him crucified, declaring that 
he desired to know nothing else, it is very evident he preached salvation by 
grace, through faith. Therefore it may not be amiss for as to ascertain 
who and what this Jesus was whom Paul preached as the salvation of the 
soul that truly believes in him. 

If we examine the Acts, we shall there find this same Apostle address- 
ing the Jews, his kinsmen, according to the flesh, endeavoring to draw their 
serious attention to the person, office, character, and finished salvation of 
Christ. And after enumerating some of God's dealings with the people 



22 



o'i Israel, and naming some of the governors, God was pleased to give 
them prior to David, lie then introduces David, and saith, " Of this 
man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a 
Saviour, Jesus. 

When John had first preached, before his coming, (to preach) the bap- 
tism of repentance to all the people of Israel, and as John fulfilled his 
course, he said, Whom think ye that I am ? I am not he, But behold, there 
cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. 

Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever 
among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they 
that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor 
yet tbe voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they 
have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause 
of death in him, yet desired the}^ Pilate that he should be slain. And 
when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down 
from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the 
dead : And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from 
Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we 
declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto 
the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he 
hath raised up Jesus again : as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou 
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he 
raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said 
on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he 
saith also in another Psalm, Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy one to see cor- 
ruption. 

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God 
fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption ; But he, 
whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 

Be it knowji unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this 
man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins ; And by him all that 
believe (mind that) are justified from all things, from which ye could not 
be justified by the law of Moses." Acts, xiii., 23 — 39. 

Thus he preached the same in effect, to those Jews who were living 
among the Gentiles, as was before preached to them of Jerusalem by our 
Lord himself, saying, " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your 
sins," John, viii., 24. 

From this positive declaration of the Lord's, the question may arise in 
the mind of the inquirer after truth, Who, and what were they required 
to believe him to be ? 

I answer, you are probably aware that the Jews were instructed in the 
law and in the prophets, as well as by their fathers and teachers, That God 
would at some time send the Messiah, in fulfilment of his declaration in 
Eden, and his promise by Moses, (see Gen. iii., 15; Deut. xviii., 15 — 19,) 
and consequently they were expecting him about the time he appeared 
among them. 

But according to prediction, " When they saw him there was no beau- 
ty that they should desire him." He was meek, and lowly and unpreten- 
ding, not aiming at temporal dignity, power, or glory, to which they had 
been accustomed, and for which they were inclined to look, consequently 
they rejected him, not believing him to be the Messiah, still he assured 
them he was, and referred them to his works for proof, yet the generality 
of them believed not. 



33 



Now, if you take notice, it, appears very evident that the woman of Sa- 
maria had been instructed in this manner, for when Jesus talked to her on 
divine subjects, she answered, " I know that Messias cometh, which is 
called Christ, when he is come, he will tell us all things; Jesus saith unto 
her, I that speak unto thee am he." John, iv,. 25 — 28. 

Here, I wish you to take particular notice how differently this operated 
on her, to what it did on the Jews. The Apostle declares, "He came to 
his own, and his own received him not, but to as many as received him, 
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to those that 
believe on his name. Thus, you see, He announced his name to this 
woman, and instead of rejecting him like the Jews, she was so convinced 
that he must be that personage, that she forget her business at the well,, 
hurried off to the city, leaving her water-pot behind, and while on the 
way thither, her secret sins being set in the light of God's countenance, 
and her actual transgressions brought to her remembrance and set in order 
before her, (read Psa. 1., 16— 22 f Matt, x., 26,) she called the men of the 
city saying, " Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: 
Is not "this the Christ? " The men believing her report, came to see him, 
and confessed him to be the Christ, the Saviour of the world. 

Thus you see the Samaritans believed what the Jews were required to 
believe if they would obtain eternal salvation. Otherwise he declared they 
should die in their sins. Because there is no other way whereby salvation 
can be obtained, neither any other name under heaven given among men, 
whereby we must be saved; for proofread, John xiv., 6; Acts iv., 11, 12; 
xvi., IT". 

And the prophet speaking of him, said, " Hear ye now, house of 
David ; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my 
God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold a 
virgin shall conceive and bare a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." 
Isa. vii., 13, 14. Which being interpreted, "Is God with us." Matt, i., 23. 

And again the same prophet declared his appearance, saying, "Unto 
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be up- 
on his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, counsellor, the 
mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace." Isa. xi., 6, 7 ; 
read also Hosea i., 7. 

Thus it is evident he was to fill different offices, assume different char- ( 
acters, and act in different capacities under different titles, being Wonder- ' 
ful in counsel, and excellent in working. 

Are you in trouble, surrounded with difficulties, and threatened with 
dangers ? He is the Wonderful counsellor, a very present help in trouble 
not only to plead at the bar of God for you, but " Mighty to save," (for 
proof, read Isa lxiii., i; Matt, xxviii., 18.) Do you need pardon, peace, 
and reconciliation with Gocl ? He hath obtained your pardon, (see Isa liii., 
4 — 6,) and procured your peace, by the blood of his cross, having laid down 
his life for the sheep, as the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. There- 
fore saith the Apostle, "He is our peace." Eph. ii., 14. And your re- 
conciliation will be accomplished, when you apply for it. Do you need 
cleansing ? He is the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness, (for 
proof read, Zech. xiii., 1 ; Isa. i., 16 — 18; Jere. iv., 14.; Psa. li., 1, 2, 10; 
Titus hi., 4 — 7; Rev. L, 5; vii., 14. Are you sore broken in the place of 
dragons ? and feel yourself bound hand and foot by sin ? He came to bind 
up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening 
of the prison to them that are bound, &c., &c, (see Isa. Ixi., 1 — 3 ; Luke 



24 



iv., 16—21.) Are you hungry, and need spiritual food ? He is the bread 
of life, (see John vi., 50 — 58.) Arejyou thirsty, and need spiritual drink ? 
He is the fountain of living waters, (see John iv., 14; vi.,35; Psa. xxxvi., 
8 — 10.) Are you naked and need spiritual clothing, to hide your shame 
and nakedness? (read Heb. iv. 12 — 16.) He will cast his skirt over you, 
and clothe you with the robe of his righteousness, (for proof read Ezek. 
xvi., 8—14; Isa. Ixi., 10, 11; Matt, ft., 30—33; Luke xv., 22; 1st Cor. i., 
30, 31,) therefore it is written, "This is his name whereby he shall be 
called. The Lord our righteousness." Jere. xxiii., 6. 

Consequently he declared, "I am the Way and the Truth, and the 
Life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me." John xiv., 6. 

Therefore it is necessary we should find him to be our dearest friend, be- 
cause he is the only refuge from the wrath to come, the oniy hope of accep- 
tance with the Father, the sum and substance of the scriptures, and the foun- 
dation of the Gospel plan, the whole scheme of salvation centring in him. 

The Apostle who wrote the text well knew this. Therefore he saith, 
" The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even 
by me, and Silvanus, aud Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him 
was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen 
unto the glory of God by us." 2d Cor., i., 19, 20. And if Christ be 
thus preached, this is the " Gospel." But if any man preach any other 
gospel, " Let him be accursed." 

If you read the fourth chapter of the Apostle's epistle to these same 
Galatians, you will find him comparing the heirs of a spiritual estate, with 
the heirs of a temporal estate, or the heirs of God, with the heirs of noble, 
or wealthy men, in the following language : " Now I say, that the heir, 
as long as he is a child, (under age) difTereth nothing from a servant though 
he be lord of all ; But is under tutors and governors until the time ap- 
pointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bond- 
age under the elements of the world ; But when the fulness of the time 
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adop- 
tion of sons. Gal. iv., 1 — 5; read also 1st Pet. iii, 18; iv., 1 — 4; Heb. 
ix., 12—15. 

Here you see the Apostle corroborates the testimony of the prophet, 
where he saith, " Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall 
call his name Immanuel." And he goes on to declare further, that " such 
a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from 
sinners, and made higher than the heavens ; For the law maketh men high 
priests which hath infirmity; but the word of the oath, (see Heb. vii., 19 
— 25,) which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for 
evermore. 11 Heb. vii., 26, 28. 

Now do you observe, the Apostle here testifies, that even the human 
nature of Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. 
Because he was not begotten by the will of man, or the will of the flesh, 
nor formed after the common course of nature, but by the power of God, 
similar to the formation of Adam from the dust of the earth at the begin- 
ning. As saith the Spirit of Christ (see 1st Pet., i., 10 — 12,) by the 
mouth of the prophet, " I will declare the decree ; the Lord hath said un- 
to me, thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten thee ; ask of me, and I 
shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for thy possession." Psa. ii., 7, 8 ; read also xl., 6 — 10 ; Hosea 
vi., 1—3. 



25 



And as he was ordained of God to be our great spiritual high priest, it 
is written of him as follows, " My covenant was with him of life and peace, 
and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, (for proof 
read, Heb. v. 5 — 11,) and was afraid before my name. The law of truth 
was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips, he walked with 
me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. For the 
priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his 
mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." Mai. ii., 5 — 7, 
read also, Heb. i. 3, 4. 

And the Psalmist speaking of him again, saith, " My heart is inditing 
a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the 
King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the 
children of men : grace is poured into thy lips, therefore God hath blessed 
thee forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, most mighty, with thy glo- 
ry and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of 
truth and meekness and righteousness : and thy right hand shall teach thee 
terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, 
whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, God, is for ever and 
ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre ; Thou lovest righteous- 
ness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee 
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Psa. xlv., 1 — 7; see also 
Zech. ii., 6 — 10; vi., 9 — 13. 

And this anointing took place after Jesus was baptised of John in Jor- 
dan. As it is recorded by the Apostle saying, " And Jesus, when he was 
baptised, went up straightway out of the water : and lo the heavens were 
opened unto him, and he (John) saw the Spirit of God descending like a 
dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt, iii., 16, 17. 

The dove, you see, represented both fulness and innocence. Therefore 
saith Paul, " It pleased the father that in him should all fulness dwell." 
Col. i., 1 9. As it is also written, " Yea, rather being good, I came into a 
body undefiled." Wisdom of Solomon, viii., 20. 

This corresponds with the doctrine taught by Christ himself, who never 
preached up his own goodness, but the goodness of God. For when one 
came to him, saying, " Good Master., what good thing shall I do, that I 
may have eternal life ? he said unto him, Why callest thou me good ? there 
is none good but one, that is God." Matt, xix., 16, 17. 

This, doubtless was spoken to show that no man in himself is good ; 
man's goodness is derived from God, through the gift of his holy spirit, 
which not only constitutes our goodness, but makes us manifestly the chil- 
dren of God, and qualifies us to preach the gospel. (For proof read, Rom. 
viii. 9, 14, 15; and Acts ii., 4; ix., 17, '20; x., 44—47; John i., 12—16.) 
And in order to prove this clearly, Jesus declared, " All manner of sin and 
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the 
Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a 
word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever 
speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in 
this world, neither in the world to come." Matt, xii., 31, 32. And we 
are informed that he spake this, " Because they said He hath an unclean, 
spirit." Mark iii., 30. 

Jesus being thus formed, fashioned, and qualified by the Father, He was 
then led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the deviL 
And the Apostle Paul speaking in reference to it saith, " Seeing then that 
4 



26 



we have a great high priest, that is passed unto the heavens, Jesus the Son 
of God, let us hold fast our pn^sion; for we have not a high priest 
which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities: but was in all 
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. iv., 14, 15. " And 
being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all 
them that obey him. Called of God a high priest after the order of 
Melchisedec." Heb. v., 9, 10. "Who was delivered for our offences, 
and was raised again for our justification." Rom. iv., 25; viii. 32. 

Therefore saith Peter, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of 
Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders 
and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, (for proof of what 
is said here, l-ead John xiv., 10 — 12,) as ye yourselves also know: Him, 
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye 
have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God 
hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death : because it was not possi- 
ble that he should be holden of it," Acts ii., 22 — 24; see also Isa. liii., 
10, 11 ; Dan. ix., 24; 2d Cor. v., 21; 1st Cor. xv., 1—28. 

There is a certain church which professes to be infallable, having as they 
say, received their authority direct from the Apostles. And some of the 
members of this church, have put the following question to me: Did not 
the Apostle Paul say, " Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any 
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let 
him be accursed?" I answered yes, but as it appears from their putting 
the question in this way, that they consider their church as holding the 
tenets and preaching the same doctrine as the Apostles, suppose we com- 
pare a few points of Paul's doctrine, as well as our Lord's words and oth- 
ers, with the doctrine and practice of the said church; so that those who 
are interested and feel inclined, may exercise their own judgment, and see 
how far one agrees with the other, this being the fairest way to get at the 
truth . 

You are probably aware that the doctrine of the church of Rome holds 
forth the Viro-in Mary as the mother of God. This doubtless is putting 
the divine nature of Christ in the place of his human nature, and repre- 
sents the Godhead as being born of a woman. 

Whereas Christ himself declared to Nicodemus, "That which is born of 
the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John iii., 6. 

But they put Spirit in the place of flesh, and flesh in the place of Spirit. 
Is not this putting darkness for light? and light for darkness? If so, it 
brings them under the woe pronounced against all such by the prophet, 
saying, " Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; (declaring as 
they do, that their doctrine is true, while all other is false,) that put dark- 
ness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet 
for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent 
in their own sight! Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away 
the righteousness of the righteous from him ! " Isa. v., 20, 21, 23. 

Doubtless, Christ was different from a common man, different from all 
who stand in the fall of Adam. He was to be the heir of all things, he 
was the promised seed, the promised Messiah, and Mary herself was a spot- 
less virgin, being foreordained and chosen of God to bring him forth, who 
was begotten by the Holy Ghost, and conceived by her, (for proof of pos- 
sibility, read Gen. xxx., 38, 39.) Consequently he was not wholly flesh 
and blood as we are. He being made a little lower than the angels for 
the suffering of death. 



8f ' 

Therefore saitli the Apostle, " Forasmucli then as the children were par- 
takers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same ; 
(mind that) that through death he might destroy him (or his authority in 
his people, see 1st John iii., 7 — 15,) that had the power of death, that is, 
the devil ; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their life 
time subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of 
angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham," Heb ii., 14 — 16, who 
are also heirs of promise and to be begotten of God through the gospel, 
(for proof, read Rom. ix., 8, 9; Gal. iv., 15; John iii., 3, '5 — 8.) "There- 
fore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed 
away ; (with him) behold, all things are become new. And all things are 
of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and bath given 
to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, rec- 
onciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them 
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we 
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray 
you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him 
to be sin for us: who himself knew no .sin; that we might be made the 
righteousness of God in him." 2d Cor. v., 17 — 21. 

Thus Paul distinguishes the human nature from the divine in the person 
of Christ, showing Jesus himself to be a perfect man, and the divine na- 
ture to be the Father dwelling within him, agreeable to the doctrine preach- 
ed and propagated by Jesus himself. This makes Christ's righteousness, 
God's righteousness, (see Isa. liv., 17 ; lix., 16 — 21.) Therefore the Apos- 
tle asked the believing Hebrews this question, "If the blood of bulls and 
goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the 
purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your 
conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? And for this cause 
he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the 
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, (mind 
what follows) they which are called might receive the promise of eternal 
inheritance." Heb. ix., 13 — 15. 

And before Jesus was born, Mary said to her cousin Elizabeth, " My 
soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my 
Saviour, For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaid : for, behold, 
from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. He hath holpen his 
servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy ; As he spake to our fathers, to 
Abraham, and to his seed forever." Luke i., 46, 47, 48, 54, 55. 

That is, that she should be called blessed, because she was so highly fa- 
vored of God as to be the honored person who was to bear and bring forth 
the great Messiah, the Christ of God, but not God himself. 

And in order to shew conspicuously to the world that the Lord Jesus 
looked upon his mother as standing in the same degree of relationship to 
to him as other believers; it is thus recorded, " While he yet talked to 
the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to 
speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy 
brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and 
said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my breth- 
ren? (according to the scripture sense.) And he stretched forth his hand 
toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For 
whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven the same is 
my brother and sister, and mother." Matt, xii., 46 — 50. 



28 



Again, while hanging on the cross, seeing his mother and John the be- 
loved disciple standing by, He first directed her attention to John, saying, 
" Woman, behold thy son ! Then said he to the disciple, Behold thy moth- 
er! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." 
John xix., 26, 27. 

By this he proved conspicuously that his humanity alone sprung from 
her, and now when he was about departing this life, John was to act a 
son's part toward her, she being now fifty years of age or upward, and her 
husband, who was older, in all probability already deceased. 

But the foregoing is not the only error taught, preached, and propaga- 
ted by the aforesaid church, in respect to the blessed virgin. Their people 
are instructed to pray to her, and request her intercession at a throne of 
grace for them. 

But I would ask, From w r hence does this church obtain the information, 
that the mother of our Lord has risen from the dead ? The writers of the 
new testament say nothing on the subject, although Jesus consigned her 
to the temporal care of the Apostle John. About thirty years after this, 
John was banished to the isle of Patmos, where the Lord was pleased to 
reveal to him many glorious things, and instructed him not to worship 
saints or angels, but God only. 

And in all his writings, John saith nothing about Mary being risen from 
the dead, and if she be not risen how can she be an advocate with the 
Father, or with the Son ? 

I know there are some who belong to the aforesaid church, that believe 
she went to heaven bodily a pure virgin, never having known man, or had 
any children besides Jesus. But this is contradicted by the testimony of 
several Apostles. See Matt, xii., 46, 47; Mark vi, 3; John vii., 1 — 10; 
Luke viii., 19—21. 

The above question may also be asked concerning the Apostles and 
other saints of the Lord, who sleep in Jesus, for they are not yet risen from 
the dead. And yet the poor deluded souls belonging to this church, are 
taught, and directed to invoke their intercession and prayers to and with 
God on their behalf. 

Now if you wish proof that the righteous dead are not yet risen, I will 
give you the authority of Peter, whom the Catholics consider the head 
of their church. For he at the day of Penticost preached to the Jews, 
saying, "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch 
David that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto 
this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn 
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, 
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne: He seeing this before, spake 
of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his 
flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all 
are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and 
having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath 
shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended 
into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit 
thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let 
all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same 
Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Acts ii., 29 — 36. 

And in order to show distinctly that Christ is our only advocate at the 
throne of grace, the Apostle John wrote to believers in Christ saying, 
" My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not, And if 



29 



any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the right- 
eous, and he is the propitiation for our sins : and not for ours (the then, 
or present disciples) only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And 
hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his coram and merits, 
(for information on this point, read John xv,, 10 — 14.) He that saith I 
know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is 
not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of 
God perfected ; hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he 
abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 1st 
John ii„ 1—6; read also, Heb. iv\, 14— 1G; vii., 24—28; ix., 24. 

Moreover, the same Apostle was commanded to write saying, u Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth; Yea saith the Spirit, 
that they may rest from their labors ; and their works do follow them." 
Rev. xiv., 13. 

But according to the doctrine and practice of the church of Rome, they 
are not to rest, but to be kept working still. Thus they act contrary to 
the word of the Lord, and follow the example of king Saul, who sought 
the witch of Endor, and desired her to introduce him to the departed 
prophet, Samuel. 

How then can they be teaching, preaching, and propagating the same 
doctrine as the Apostles ? It is very evident that Paul foresaw that such 
false and erroneous doctrine as theirs would be propagated by those who 
were opposed to divine truth, and who sought to delude souls. Therefore 
he exhorted the disciples of Christ, saying, " Let no man beguile you of 
your reward, in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding 
into those things, which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly 
mind, (never having been renewed in the spirit of his mind, by the Holy 
Ghost,) And not holding the head, (Christ) from which all the body by 
joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, in- 
creaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ 
from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world, are 
ye subject to ordinances, (touch not, taste not, handle not: Which all are 
to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men ? 
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humili- 
ty, and neglecting of the body ; not in any honor to the satisfying of the 
flesh." Col. ii., 18—23; read also Gal. iv., 10, 11 ; Luke xvii.", 20, 21. 

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, 
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things 
above, not on things on the earth, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with 
Christ in God. When Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also 
appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon 
the earth ; fornication, uncleannees, inordinate affection, evil concupecence, 
and covetousness, w hich is idolatry : For which things' sake the wrath of God 
cometh on the children of disobedience; In the which ye also walked 
sometime, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; 
Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his 
deeds : and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge 
after the image of him that created him ; Where there is neither Greek 
nor Jew, circumcission nor uncircumcission, Barbarian, Sythian, bond nor 
free : but Christ is all, and in all. 

Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mer- 
cies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering: Forbearing 



30 



one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel 
against any : even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all 
these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let 
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in 
one body : and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ (mind that) dwell 
in you richly in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in 
psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts 
to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name 
of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Col. 
iii., 1 — 17 ; see also, 1st Cor., xv., 57, 58; 1st John, v., 4 — 21. 

Thus it is clear that the Apostle preached quite a different doctrine to 
that taught and propagated by the church of Rome. 

Having shewn you to a certain extent, what kind of doctrine Paul 
preached, and that that doctrine was received by the Galatians as the Gos- 
pel of Christ, and found to be the power of God unto salvation, agreeable 
to the same Apostle's epistle to the Romans, (see Rom. i., 16.) I will 
now take up the third part of the subject, and notify you, that it mat- 
ters not how high the authority, whether any of the Apostles, or an angel 
from heaven, (How much less then the Pope, his cardinals, bishops, or 
priests ?) if they deviate from the truth, so as to alter the gospel of Christ, 
dress it in another garb, and present it to the people in another style, so 
that it shall wear the appearance of another Gospel, which the Apostle 
had not preached, " Let him be accursed." 

This is doubtless an awful subject for the serious consideration of all 
mankind, for it is certain that men might easily be guilty of this. Either 
by omitting to direct attention to the sure foundation, neglecting to en- 
force the chief points and lightly esteem the great fundamental doctrines 
of the gospel, as preached by Paul, and his companions in labor, intro- 
ducing other points, which were left out by the Apostle, because they 
savored of men, and consequently tend to adulturate and pervert the gos- 
pel of Christ. 

Therefore take heed ye false teachers, and lend an attentive ear ye pro- 
fessed disciples of Christ, while I endeavor to clear up to you this vastly 
important point. 

The Apostle being well aware that the spirit of man was not only in- 
clined to err, but also very strongly inclined to embrace error, (for proof 
read John v., 43,) as a watchful shepherd over the 'flock he wrote to 
them saying, "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly; 
and indeed bear with me, For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy ; 
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I rnay present you as a 
chaste virgin to Christ. But 1 fear lest b}^ any m'aans, as the serpent be- 
guiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from 
the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that Oometh preacheth another 
Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, (for in- 
formation as to the spirit they received^ read Rom. viii., 14 — 18,) which 
ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye 
might well bear with me." 2d Cor., xi., 1. — 4. 

Because, the Jesus whom Paul preached, was an all sufficient Saviour, 
and through faith in him, they obtained eternal salvation. Consequently 
the spirit they had received was not. the spirit of bondage again to 
fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father, and as a 
matter of course, the gospel they had accepted, was a free grace gospel, 
on the strength of which, he exhorted them, saying, " Stand fast therefore 



31 



in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled 
again with the yoke of bondage." Gal. v., 1. 

Only yesterday, I saw hung up in a house a picture intended to repre- 
sent the Virgin Mary, she was standing, upon clouds, in a stately attitude, 
dressed in white with green and yellow borders, with a scarlet robe over 
her shoulders, and an angel behind on her left hand holding it up ; on her 
right hand stood a child, to appearance about four or five years old placing a 
crown of gold upon her head, and in front, opposite the child kneeled another 
angel presenting a string of flowers to her. Well up in the back ground 
among clouds several faces were to be seen, representing cherubs with 
small wings, and beneath the picture were placed the -words, 

QUEEN OF ANGELS. 

I could not help thinking how much this corresponded with the religion 
of those of whom God complained, saying, " The children gather wood, and 
the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes- 
to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods that 
they may provoke me to anger." Jere. vii., 18 — 34; xliv., 15 — 30. 

This caused me to heave the painful sigh, and lament that mankind 
should be so blinded by the great enemy of their soul, as to form such, 
erroneous and idolatrous notions. 

A short time after, I entered another house, where was another pic- 
ture, representing a woman standing and spreading out her hands down- 
ward on each side of her, as though in the act of dispensing her gifts, 
and from her hands a glorious ray of light was falling. 

I asked the woman of the house if she knew what that meant ? She 
answered, " Yes, that is the ray of light falling from the hands of the 
blessed virgin, for she was the mother of God, and her hands had 
nursed, or handled him." 

I explained to her the erroneousness of such ideas, but she considered 
them perfectly correct, and cherished them so fondly, (like those of old, 
see Jere. xliv. 15 — 30,) that my argument appeared to have no effect. 

Is it not really astonishing, that in a christian land like this, and in 
what is generally considered a bright gospel day, people should betray 
such ignorance of divine things ? Such persons evidently arrange them- 
selves with those of whom the Apostle who wrote the text complained, 
saying, " The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungod- 
liness, and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteous- 
ness; Because that which may be known of God, is manifest in them; 
for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him 
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they 
are without excuse : Because that when they knew God, they glorified 
him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imag- 
inations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves 
to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible 
God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four- 
footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to 
uncleanness, through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own 
bodies between themselves. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, 
and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is 
blessed for ever, Amen." Rom. i., 18, 25. 

This very article you see was written by the Apostle to the church, or 



32 



saints of God at Rome. How is it then that those who now profess the Rom- 
an Catholic religion, act on the principle, and practise the very things 
of which the Apostle here complains? Does it not show conspicuously 
that they are in the dark ? 

This is doubtless a serious subject for consideration to all such as are 
in earnest for salvation, and who diligently seek the Lord. And I hope 
the Lord may be pleased in the multitude of his tender mercies to 
direct their hearts and minds into the love of God, which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord, and enable them to break from the trammels of every 
and all idolatrous religions. 

Because this is not the only branch in the professing christian church 
that is in the dark. There are other branches which hold erronious 
notions, and preach and propagate doctrines widely different from those 
preached and propagated by Paul. The most conspicuous of these you 
will easily recognize if I introduce to your notice a verse from a hymn 
written by Mr. Hart, on self-denial. It reads thus : 

The devil can self-denial use, 

And that with devilish selfish views, 

His being and his state disown, 

And teach that devil or hell there's none. 

Such kind of doctrine is doubtless the most prominent among the 
abuses of the day, in the perversion of truth ; and yet the advocates of 
such kind of doctrine profess to preach a Jesus and a gospel. 

But it is not Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, nor the gospel 
of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation; for through the 
spiritual preaching of the gospel of Christ, and the spiritual application 
of his atoning blood to their conscience, sinners are delivered from the 
power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 
See Col. i., 11—14. 

Moreover, this gospel according to the Apostle Matthew, also testifies, 
" Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted 
of the devil," read Matt, iv., 1-24. If there be no devil, of course this 
must be false ; Again he testified of Jesus, saying, u And when he had 
called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean 
spirits, to cast them out, and he commanded them, saying, As ye go, 
preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, Heal the sick, cleanse 
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils." Matt, x., 1,5, 7, 8. 

And that portion of mankind who are eventually lost, Jesus called 
tares, and declared them to be the children of the wicked one, the 
enemy that sowed them is the devil. (Read Matt, xiii., 38, 39.) And 
speaking in reference to what will pass between them and the great 
Judge at the last day, he saith, " Then shall he say also unto them on 
his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared 
for the devil and his angels." Matt, xxv., 4 i . 

In confirmation of this, another Apostle testifies, That when Jesus 
was addressing certain rebellious and unbelieving Jews, he said to them, 
" Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do, 
he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth; 
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, (mind what 
follows,) he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and the father of it. 
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not." John viii., 
44, 45. 



35 



Thus you see, the devil can speak, and propagate lies, and false doctrine 
through his emissaries, in opposition to truth. 

Consequently the same Apostle goes on with his testimony, saying, 
" And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of 
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him: and after the sop Satan entered 
into him." John xiii., 2, 27. 

Again, in one of his epistles, he wrote, saying, "He that committeth 
sin, is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning; For this pur- 
pose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy (in them that 
believe) the works of the devil, (for information, read Jere. v., 10 — 31.) 
Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin: For his seed remaineth 
in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the chil- 
dren of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; (Thus Johu like 
the prophet in former time, divided the whole human family into two 
classes, that is, them that serve God, and them that serve him not,) 
whosoever doetli not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth 
not his brother, For this is the message that ye heard from the begin- 
ing, (see John xv., 12, 13,) that we should love one another. Not as 
Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore 
slew he him ? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 

Marvel not my brethren, if the world hate you, We know that we have 
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren, (of the Lord 
in truth.) He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death. Whosoever 
hateth his brother, is a murderer; (mind that ye malicious souls,) and ye 
know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive 
we the love of God, because he (Christ) laid down his life for us; and we 
ought to lay down (or risk, and lay down if needful in the propagation 
and defence of truth,) our lives for the brethren." 1st John, iii., 8 — 16; 
read also John xv., 12 — 14. 

And John bore further testimony, by writing what he was commanded 
in the Revelations concerning the devil, see Rev. ii., 10, 13; ix., 1 — 11; 
xii., 3, 4, 7— 17; xiii., 1 — 9; xiv., 9 — 11; xvi., 10, 11, 13, 14; xvii, 1—8; 
xviii., 2, 3; xix., 20; xx., 10; xxi., 8. 

The Apostle Luke, also testified, saying, " And devils also came out of 
many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God, and he 
rebuking them, suffered them not to speak ; for they knew that he was 
Christ." Luke, iv., 41; see also viii., 27 — 35; x., 17 — 20. 

The Apostle Mark testified, saying, " Now, when Jesus was risen early, 
the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of 
whom he had cast seven devils," Mark xvi., 9. 

The devil being a tempter, the Apostle James, exhorteth mankind, say- 
ing, " Submit yourselves therefore to God : Resist the devil, and he will 
flee from you." James iv., 7; read also, Matt, iv., 7 — 11. 

The Apostle Peter, exhorteth believers, saying, " Be sober, be vigilant, 
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, (read 
Job, i., 7,) seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the 
faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren 
that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us to his 
eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you 
perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you, . To him be glory and dominion 
for ever, Amen." 1st Peter, v., 8 — 11. Peter could speak by experience, 
for proof read Luke xxii., 31 — 34. 

When. Elymas the sorcerer, withstood Paul and Barnabas, and sought 



34 



to turn away the Deputy from the faith of the gospel, then Paul 
being filled with the Holy Ghost, " Set his eyes on him, and said, full 
of all subtilty, and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all 
righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ?" 
Acts, xiii., 9, 10. 

And when writing to the Corinthians concerning false and idolatrous 
worship, he said, "What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that 
which is offered in sacrifice to idols, is any thing ? But I say, that the 
things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God ; 
(mind what follows,) and I would not that ye should have fellowship with 
devils: Ye cannot drink of the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils; ye 
cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." 
1st Cor., x., 19—21. 

Thus you see, Paul carries the subject to a great extent, even into the 
communion service, and continues to caution, by adding, " This I say there- 
fore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gen- 
tiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding dark- 
ened, being alienated from the life of God, (mind that,) through the ignor- 
ance, that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts;. Who being 
past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all 
uncleanness with greediness. 

But ye have not so learned Christ : If so be that ye have heard him, 
and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus; That ye put off, 
(mind what follows,) concerning the former conversation, the old man, 
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the 
spirit of your mind : (read Eph. ii., 1 — 3,) And that ye put on the new man, 
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore 
putting away lying, speak every man truth w 7 ith his neighbor, for we are 
members one of another, (If we are true christians.) Be ye angry and sin 
not ? Let not the sun go down upon your wrath ; Neither give place to the 
devil."— Eph. iv., 17—27. 

Then he wrote to Timothy, saying, " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, 
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to 
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, hav- 
ing their conscience seared with a hot iron: Forbidding to marry, and com- 
manding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received 
with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every 
creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, (for proof of this, read 
Matt, xv., 10 — 20; 1st Cor. x., 25,) if it be received with thanksgiving; 
For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If thou put the 
brethren in ' remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister 
of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine, where- 
unto thou hast attained." 1st Tim. iv., 1 — 6. 

Again he wrote to him, saying, " Of these things put them in remem- 
brance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words 
to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show thyself 
approved unto God, (this is the all-important point,) a workman that need- 
eth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun 
profane and vain babblings ; for they will increase unto more ungodliness, 
And their worm will eat as doth a canker; of whom is Himeneus and 
Philetus : Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrec- 
tion is passed already, and overthrow the faith of some. 

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. 



35 



The Lord knoweth them that are his, and, let every one that nameth the 
name of Christ, depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are 
not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth ; and 
some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself 
from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the 
Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful 
lusts ; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with (whom) them 
that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender 
strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive ; but be gentle unto 
all men, apt to teach, patient : In meekness instructing those that oppose 
themselves : If God peradventure will give them repentance (see Acts v., 
31,) to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover them- 
selves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." 
2 Tim. ii., 14—26. 

I have now shown you, that at least seven inspired penmen in the New 
Testament alone, have testified publicly, that there is not only a chief 
devil, but also subordinate devils. 

I would ask now, if these men pretend to preach the gospel of Christ, 
as handed down to us in the New Testament by those spiritually minded 
teachers, how is it they now say, There is neither devil nor hell ? Does it 
not prove beyond doubt, that they preach another gospel, and another 
Jesus, whom the Apostles and primitive christians did not preach ? And 
consequently they are offenders in a high degree against the majesty of 
heaven, and stand convicted in the awful penalty required by the inspired 
Apostle in the words of the text. 

Therefore, should they depart this life without repentance, they may 
expect to hear from' the lips of the great judge of all the earth at the last 
day, this awful sentence, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
prepared for the devil and his angels; For I was an hungered, and ye 
gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I was a stran- 
ger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and ye clothed me not ; sick, and in 
prison, and ye visited me not. 

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an 
hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and 
did not minister unto thee. 

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch 
as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And 
these shall go away, into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into 
life eternal." Matt, xxv., 41 — 46; read also Matt, vii., 21 — 23. 

It seems this awful sentence is applied to false teachers particularly, 
and its publication is intended to operate as a caution against proceeding 
in their mad career. For it is very evident, that all who preach a gospel 
differing from the Apostles, are arraigned on the side of those false shep- 
herds of whom God complained in the days of old, saying, " Woe be to 
the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves ! Should not the shepherds 
feed the flock ? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill 
them that are fed; but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye 
not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither 
have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again 
that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost." 
Ezek. xxxiv., 2 — 4. 

Thus you see, The complaint under the old covenant, corresponds with 



36 



the complaint under the new covenant. For how can those who are not 
sent of God, and qualified by him to preach the gospel of Christ, admin- 
ister comfort and consolation to the afflicted soul, (for proof, read 2d Cor. 
i., 3 — 7, 21, 22,) food and raiment to the hungry, thirsty and naked soul, 
when they are not in possession of it, and do not enjoy it themselves? as 
the servants of God do. For proof, read Matt, vi., 30; Isa. lviii., 7 — 12; 
Luke xv., 22 — 24; John vii., 38. 

From a sincere desire of being useful in my day and generation, I have 
written the foregoing, hoping thereby to call the serious attention of those 
who ran without being sent of God, and who in consequence preach 
through ignorance, "another gospel," which the Apostles did not preach; 
their awful situation. If perad venture they might seek forgiveness in 
time, and the Lord grant them repentance unto life, and deliver them out 
of the snare of the devil. 

And may the Lord be pleased in the multitude of his tender mercies to 
bless my feeble endeavors for the good of souls generally, cause all to 
examine themselves diligently, and stand upon the watch tower. While 
I remain yours to serve, not flatteringly, but faithfully in the bonds of the 
gospel of Christ. Frederick Hasted. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Written on the following passages of Scripture. 

"God is love." — 1st John iv., 8. "God is just." — Deut. xxxii., 4; 
2d Sam. xxiii., 3; Isa. xlv., 21; "To me belongeth vengeance, and 
recompense; their foot shall slide in due time; for the day of their cala- 
mity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." 
Deut. xxxii., 35. " God is merciful," as it is written, " And the Lord 
passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful 
and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping 
mercy for thousauds, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that 
will by no means clear the guilty." Exod. xxxiv., 6, 7. 

I wish you to understand that my principal object in taking those dif- 
ferent portions of scripture to treat on at once, is, that I may have an 
oppoitunity in close compass to answer to a certain extent those who ob- 
ject to the doctrine of endless punishment as it is set forth in the scriptures. 

For when I was in the city of Reading, in Pennsylvania, July, 1848, 
circulating religious pamphlets, I entered a store in the principal street 
where I saw a person whom I supposed was the proprietor, or one of the 
firm, and I handed him a pamphlet written on the subject of Death, Judg- 
ment, and Eternity, requesting him to look at it, and see if he would like 
to buy it ? 

After looking at it a short time, he said, I will not buy it, but I will 
trade with you for one or two others. I answered, Let me see them, 
He handed me one, and said he would give me two of them for mine, 
mine being larger, and his were both alike. Purporting to be a letter 



37 



written by the Rev'd John Foster, (styled) a distinguished English Bap- 
tist Clergyman, on the subject of endless punishment, and addressed to a 
young minister. 

I traded with him on condition that he would read mine, which he 
promised to do, and I promised to read his, which I did. 

And in it, (contrary to what might be expected of a Baptist minister), 
the writer in glowing terms appealed to the reasoning powers of mankind 
to calculate and seriously consider the immensity of eternity. In order 
that they might be the better enabled to conceive whether it is pos- 
sible for that good and gracious Being, who is declared by the Apostle to 
be "Love" to punish the wicked to all eternity. 

Now such kind of reasoning is calculated to attain, at least, one of two 
points, either to establish the doctrine of purgatory, or bring opprobrium 
on the doctrine of God as handed down to us in the old and new testa- 
ments. 

Because, if the Roman Catholic ideas of purgatory are erroneous, and 
there really be no purgatory beyond the grave, then it arouses the carnal 
enmity of the sinner's mind against divine justice, excites the natural pas- 
sions, and moves the natural feelings to sympathize with the wicked, teach- 
ing them to oppose the doctrine of eternal punishment as not emanating 
from God. 

But it is very evident that the preaching, writing, and teaching of all such 
persons are one-sided, aiming to please men, and teaching for doctrine, the 
opinions of men. Consequently they take what they consider the best 
portions of scripture, and leave, or reject the worst. Or, in other words, 
they lay hold of and embrace the promises, but refuse and reject the 
threaten ings. 

This is how the false prophets acted in the days of old, for whenever 
God sent his servants to warn the people of impending danger, in conse- 
quence of their sinful condition in his sight, they opposed the message, 
declared it was not true, and cried, " Peace ! peace !" when war was de- 
clared from on high. And they even professed to see visions of peace 
for Jerusalem, when God's judgments were about to be executed against it. 

And these false reasoners in our day would have the duration of heaven 
and happiness endless. But not the duration of hell, misery and woe 
endless. 

I wish you distinctly to understand that I am not about to make it 
contrary to what they say because I desire it. I could say to them as 
Micaiah said to Ahab and his false prophets: "Goon and prosper." But 
that would not do. For like him J am bound to speak the word of the 
Lord faithfully, because, He who hath declared the one to be everlasting, 
hath also declared the other to be everlasting, (for proof, read Matt., xxv., 
46; John, iii., 16; Dan., xii., 2; Acts, xiii., 46 — 48.) And if the word, 
everlasting life, does not mean endless or eternal, then everlasting burnings 
and everlasting punishment does not mean endless or eternal. 

But in order to prove that mankind have no room to cavil about the word 
everlasting not meaning eternal, I will refer to two different witnesses in 
the new testament, where our Lord himself cleared up the subject saying: 
" When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels 
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : And before him 
shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from anoth- 
er, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; And he shall set the 
sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 



38 



Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed 
of my Father, (for explanation of the blessing, read Gal. iii., 5 — 9,) in- 
herit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

Then shall he say also unto them on his left hand, Depart from me ye 
cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And 
these shall go away into everlasting punishment : but the righteous into 
life eternal." Matt, xxv., 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 46. 

Here you see the word eternal is used on the part of eternal life. And 
now I will show you the other side. 

Jesus spake, saying, " Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven 
unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blas- 
pheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never 
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." Mark iii., 23, 29. 

Therefore it appears quite superfluous for mankind to attempt to calcu- 
late the extent, or endeavor to ascertain the durability of eternity; it 
not being a subject of research for disputation, but for reflection in order to 
ascertain whether we can endure the punishment, before we harden our 
heart in sin and wickedness, resisting the holy Ghost, like those in the 
days of old, (see Acts vii., 51 ; Heb. iii., 7 — 19; iv., 1 — 11.) Neither has 
any man a right to appeal to, or endeavor to operate upon the natural 
passions, feelings, or judgment of fallen mankind, in order to cause them to 
disbelieve the truth, rebel against the words of God, and contemn the 
counsel of the Most High, by finding fault with, rejecting and opposing 
the stern decrees and awful denunciations of God against the ungodly, 
merely because they are repugnant to human feeliDg, or, because they 
may appear to the human understanding contrary to the nature of God as 
represented in the attribute of Love. 

They should bear in mind that " Love," is but one attribute of Jehovah, 
although a great and glorious attribute. Indeed it is so great, and so glori- 
ous, and the apostle John felt and enjoyed it to such an extent, that he 
emphatically declared, " God is love." And our Lord also declared, " God 
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him, (here is the condition of salvation,) should not perish but 
have everlasting life." John iii., 16. 

Yet, notwithstanding, God is not all love, he is just as well as merciful, 
and always punished sooner or later those who taught rebellion in Israel. 

Therefore let all such teachers take heed to their way, for it is quite 
certain that God's servant has to deliver God's message as he receives it 
from God, leaving God to work according to his own council. 

Thus you may observe Jonah, compelled by a high hand, to go and de- 
clare to the inhabitants of Ninevah, "Thus saith the Lord, yet forty days, 
and Ninevah shall be overthrown." Jonah iii., 4. 

Well, was it overthrown ? No, Do you ask why it was not ? I answer, 
Because they believed God, received his message with all humility of mind, 
repented of their evil deeds, and turned to the Lord with full purpose of 
heart. And in their case was made plain the object God had in view in 
sending this threatening message. 

It was to make them sensible of their awful state and condition, and con- 
strain them to sue for mercy, that they might obtain pardon and forgiveness. 

To this they attended without delay, and the consequence was, instead 
of judgment being executed, the bowels of divine compassion were moved, 
the sceptre of mercy was extended for the fearing and trembling penitent 
to touch, and God appeared in the attribute of love, as the Father of mer- 
cies, and God of all grace. 



39 



Here, iu the first instance, God manifested his love toward them in call- 
ing them to repentance, for calling prove selection sure. But God's love 
did not appear to them until after they repented and obtained mercy. Be- 
cause it is written, " God is angry with the wicked every day." Psa. vii., 
11. And he was pleased to make known his anger to them, and had they 
not have repented, Ninevah must have been overthrown, or God's word 
proved false. 

It is therefore expedient that we give the subject our most serious at- 
tention, examine the scriptures diligently and endeavor to ascertain further, 
how God works with mankind, and in what manner he exercises his differ- 
ent attributes in and toward man. 

And in conformity to this rule, let us commence with the first portion of 
our subject, which saith, 

"GOD IS LOVE." 

Now, in order to view this declaration of the Apostle in its true light 
it is necessary we should examine under what circumstances it was written, 
arid to whom addressed ; in doing this, we shall find it was not addressed 
to mankind in bulk, neither was he speaking in general terms of all the 
attributes of God. 

It is not only important for us to know, but also to bear in mind as we 
proceed, that he was writing to true believers in Christ, in reference to 
God's loving kindness and tender compassion in Christ toward repenting 
sinners, and more particularly toward them' who had felt and experienced 
the same. Consequently to them now, God was love. 

And they being his children by adoption and grace, or a new and spir- 
itual birth, it was needful they should not only possess and enjoy, but al- 
way endeavor to maintain the same frame of mind, displaying to the world 
and to each other the ruling influence of the love of God in their heart, 
in order to prove that they w r ere of their Father which is in heaven. 

Therefore he saith to them, " Ye are of God, little children, and have 
overcome them : because greater is he that is in you, (mind this,) than he 
that is in the world, (or in worldly minded people, see Eph. ii., 2.) They 
are of the world : therefore speak they of the world, and the world hear- 
eth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God, heareth us: he that 
is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and 
the spirit of error. 

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one 
that loveth is bom of God, and knoweth God : He that loveth not, know- 
eth not God : for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God 
toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, 
that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, 
but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. If we 
love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, (mind what fol- 
lows,) because he hath given us of his Spirit, and we have seen and do 
testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, (for explanation, 
see 1st Cor. xii,' 3,) God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have 
known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love ; and he 
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our 
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of Judgment, 
because as he is, so are we in this world, (1st John, iv., 4 — 17.) 



40 



Thus lie sums up the whole matter, and shows distinctly to whom God 
is love. There was a time when this same Apostle did not manifest the 
ruling influence of the love of God in his heart. For when the time had 
nearly arrived for Jesus to suffer death upon the cross, he steadfastly set 
his face to go up to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face , who 
entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. But the 
people did not receive him. And when his disciples, James and John, saw 
this, they said : Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down 
from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did ? But he turned and 
rebuked them, and said: Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 
For the Son of man is not come to destroy mens' lives, but to save them. 
And they went to another village, (see Luke, ix, 54 — 56.) For vengeance 
'belongeth unto the Father. He will avenge the quarrel of his covenant. 

But in order to make a way for extending mercy without violating the 
attribute of justice, he executed judgment against his beloved Son for 
our transgressions ; consequently, he is our peace and peace-maker, for we 
obtain peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

But the mode by which we receive and experience personal and experi- 
mental reconciliation and acceptance with God is, repentance and faith, 
even faith in the bleeding Lamb. Or a sight of Christ in his suffering 
agonies upon the cross, suffering for our sins, being presented to the eye of 
the understanding by the Holy Ghost, which worketh in us that true and 
evangelical repentance that needeth not to be repented of, because it 
brings the soul to the footstool of sovereign mercy, to receive pardon and 
forgiveness for all that is past, with promise of strength for the future, and 
fills it with joy and peace in believing. Therefore let us turn over another 
leaf and consider the second portion of scripture, which saith: 
"GOD IS JUST." 

The Father having executed judgment against our surety for our im- 
mense debts, and obtained payment in full of all demands, can now be 
just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Because He laid 
on him the iniquity of us all, and with his stripes we are healed. If we 
draw virtue from him and experience the efficacy of his precious blood, 
consequently sinners are invited to kiss the Son, who hath bought them 
with his own blood, (see 1st Peter, i., 18 — 25; ii., 24, 25), lest he be 
angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. 

Christ in scripture is spoken of under different names, titles, figures and 
similitudes. He is called the fountain of life, a fountain of living waters, 
and a fountain to wash in. For it is written, "In that day there shall be 
a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusa- 
lem for sin and for uncleanness," (Zech., xiii., 1.) But if sinners come not 
to the fountain, to wash away their filth and pollution, there remains for 
them a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which 
shall consume the adversaries. For as God is faithful and true to his 
covenant promises, so is He also faithful and true to his declarations con- 
cerning chastisements and threatened punishment. Consequently if man- 
kind continue in an evil course, he will most assuredly put in execution 
against them all his threatenings, their only chance of escape being to for- 
sake sin, and fly to Christ for refuge from the wrath to come, for he alone 
can afford them shelter from the pitiless storm and tempest that awaits 
them, and will sooner or later certainly come upon them, for God hath 
declared, "I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their 
iniquity : and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will 



41 



1 ay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man (the man 
Christ Jesus,) more precious than fine gold ; even a man than the golden 
wedge of Ophir." (Isa., xiii., 11, 12.) 

" In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and 
the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are 
escaped of Israel, (from the bondage of sin and Satan.) And it shall 
come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that reraaineth in Jeru- 
salem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living 
in Jerusalem : "When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the 
daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the 
midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning, (for 
explanation, see Zech., xiii., 9.) And the Lord will create upon every 
dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and 
smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night : (mind that, 
and consider whether you have ever observed it,) for upon all the glory 
shall be a defence. 

And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the 
heat, (of persecution, see Psa. lxxxiii., 15, 16 ; cxliii., 1 — 11,) and for a place 
of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. Isa., iv., 2 — 6. 

Have you sought this refuge, and found it ? If not, you had better at- 
tend to it without delay, and strive to enter in at the straight gate ere it 
be too late. For Jesus hath declared, " Many will seek to enter in, (in 
their own way,) and shall not be able." 

Seeing then that it is necessary you should enter in, or be shut out from 
heaven, what is the use of listening to the tale of those who say : You 
shall not perish ? Or, in other words, will not be banished for ever from 
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, and endure 
punishment with the wicked to all eternity. 

Did not the great enemy of our souls, induce our first parent in Eden, 
to believe similar lying doctrine ? Did he not say to her, " Ye shall not 
surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat- thereof, then your 
eyes shall be opened. And ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." 
Gen., iii., 4, 5. 

Thus you see by a wicked, wilful lie, and flattering deception, he in- 
duced them to believe that they would better themselves wonderfully by 
hearkening to his counsel. They would even become gods. 

But did they become gods? no; but they became transgressors 
against the God of heaven, their friend and benefactor, because they dis- 
regarded his commandment, and listened to the evil insinuations of bis 
enemy and theirs. 

Thus they choose death rather than life, through rejecting the truth, and 
embracing falsehood, and the enemy obtained possession of them as his 
bond servants, (for proof see John viii., 34.) 

And these false teachers would have you believe a lie also, in order to* 
become the children of God by adoption. But if you believe them, seri- 
ously embrace their doctrine, and die a natural death under its influence, 
you will most assuredly be lost for ever. 

For God, by the gospel requires us to seek the peace, and truth, and 
that is Christ ; therefore saith Jesus, " I am the way, the truth, and the 
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John, xiv., 6. And 
the Apostles saith : "He is our peace." Eph., ii., 14. 

And in order to show you conspicuously by past experience of persons 
and things recorded in the scriptures, (which things the Apostle saith, 



42 



were written for our instruction,) I will now direct your serious attention 
to those portions where the faithfulness of God in executing his threaten- 
ings against the rebellious have been signally displayed, beginning with 
Adam, and passing along through the sacred record to the last destruction 
of Jerusalem, as pronounced by Christ, when he beheld the city and wept 
over it. See Luke, xix., 41 — 44. 

I now ask, did God put in execution his threat to Adam and Eve, for 
disobeying bis commands ? Doubtless he did. Their souls died a spiritual 
death immediately, and in due time their bodies died a natural death. 
They also brought the curse of God upon the earth itself, (see Gen., iii., 
17 — 19,) and entailed upon their posterity extra frailty, or a greater lia- 
bility to sin, contract diseases, and bring upon them all the miseries we 
feel and experience. The souls also of all their offspring while in a state 
of nature are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, their bodies also die 
a natural death, or perish from the earth through laying violent hands on 
themselves, plunging in the water, accidents, wars or untimely visitations, 
producing an awful end to their bodily existence. 

And their souls must die an eternal death, or, in other words, be banished 
for ever from the delightsome presence of the Lord, and consequently en- 
dure eternal misery, should their bodies die while their soul remains dead 
in trespasses and sins. 

And in order to manifest to all future generations the displeasure of 
Jehovah, Adam and Eve were immediately turned out of Eden. This 
alone proves not only banishment from the land of their nativity, but also 
from sweet communion and intercourse with God. 

Yet they were not left altogether without hope of return, for God pro- 
mised a Saviour. But as men began to multiply upon the face of the 
earth, they corrupted themselves to such an extent that God threatened to 
destroy them with a flood of water, and he did destroy all except those who 
entered the ark. And if sinners neglect to enter the ark of the covenant 
by faith, they will surely be drowned in perdition, or the wrath to come. 

After the flood, God declared he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, 
and when Lot published it to the people, he appeared to them as one that 
mocked, for they did not believe that God would do any such thing. But 
was it as they thought, or did God destroy them ? Doubtless they were 
all destroyed. 

Again, Pharaoh and the Egyptians did not believe that God had called 
and required the children of Israel to leave Egypt and serve Him in an- 
other country, even in an inheritance that he would give them, although 
Moses and Aaron showed so many signs among them. But through the 
instrumentality of the magicians, their hearts were hardened against the 
fear of God, consequently they opposed the work of God, and endeavored 
to keep^hem back from serving the Lord, until the Lord brought his heavy 
judgments to pass upon the land, and at last drowned Pharaoh and all 
his host in the Red Sea. 

Notwithstanding all this, we find Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with 
certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the as- 
sembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, (certainly a very 
powerful majority,) rising up against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 
and saying unto them : "Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the con- 
gregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them : 
wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord ?" 

Thus you see, like the false teachers in our day, they flattered the 



43 



people, and endeavored to make them believe they were in a far better 
condition than what they really were. Thus they would feign have set 
them down short of the promised rest. 

But thanks to God, He would not allow his people to be deceived in 
this way, for he had a rest in reserve for them, (see Heb., iv., 1 — 16,) which 
He had not only resolved to give them, but had graciously promised to 
bring them into. Consequently He displayed his indignation in a most 
awful and singular manner, by causing the earth to open her mouth and 
swallow them up, so that they went down alive into the pit." (See ^Num., 
xvi., 1—35.) 

Would it not be well then for all priests, preachers and spiritual teach- 
ers to examine themselves, their doctrine, and creed, in order to ascertain 
correctly whether they are bearing testimony to the truth, with the neces- 
sary authority from on high ? (For information, read Acts, i., 8 ; ix., 5, 6, 
15, 16, 17; Rom. viii, 9 — 14.) For not only has the hot displeasure of 
the Lord been manifested against those who run without being sent, and 
who in consequence prove themselves enemies both to God and his people, 
because they propagate error, but his own peculiar people often incur his 
displeasure, and share his fatherly correction for their folly. 

The ancient Israelites were chosen of God as a peculiar earthly people, 
to whom he might make known to a certain extent his good will and plea- 
sure; that through them, the law of God, the ordinances of God, the 
sacred records, and the written word of God, might be handed down to 
posterity for the information, edification, and general benefit of mankind. 

Viewing them in this light, the Apostle saith : " To whom pertaineth 
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, 
and the service of God, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of 
whom as concerning the flesh Christ came." Rom., ix, 4, 5. 

Yet with the promises God coupled threatenings, and when they trans- 
gressed and deserved punishment, instead of executing judgment, God 
would kindly condescend to call a servant, and send him to them, to declare 
their condition, warn them of impending danger, call on them to repent 
and turn to God, from whom they were straying, or he would surely 
punish them. 

But there were alway corrupt priests, false prophets, and false teachers 
among the people, and those would oppose the faithful messenger, tear his 
message to pieces by endeavoring to disprove its correctness, and declare 
to the people that it should not be so, for God would not deal with them 
after that manner. 

Thus they wrought upon the natural passions, and excited the people, 
not only against the faithful and true message, but also against the true 
and faithful messenger. And what was the consequence ? Why, instead 
of repenting and turning to God, they added sin to sin, by rejecting His 
word and message and abusing, persecuting, and ill using him who had 
delivered it to them. 

By such means they put yokes of iron as it were upon the necks of the 
people, hardening their hearts against the fear of God, until God brought 
the threatened punishment upon them. (For proof, read Jer., xiv., 13 — 16 ; 
xv., 1 — 17 ; xvi., 1 — 13; xviii., 15 — 18; xix., 15; xx., 1 — 7; xxi., 1 — 10; 
xxxvii., 18, 19; xxxix., 1 — 3.) 

Well might the Lord say: "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and 
scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith the Lord. Therefore, thus saith 
the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people : f Ye 



44 



have scattered my flock, and driven thern away, (that is, they have been 
the instigation of it,) and have not visited them : behold, I will visit upon 
you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. I have seen also in the pro- 
phets of Jerusalem an horrible thing; they commit adultery, and walk in 
lies ; they strengthen also the hands of evil doers, that none doth return 
from his wickedness ; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the in- 
habitants thereof as Gomorrah." (Jer., xxiii., 1, 2, 14.) 

And when the Lord Jesus, (the essential truth itself,) was on the earth 
in his own proper person, even then the false teachers were numerous, 
opposed the faithful and true witness, hardened the people against repent- 
ance, so that in general the evil man turned to his course ; and he declared 
" The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment against this generation. 
For they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and, behold, a greater than 
Jonas is here." Luke, xi., 32." 

He also exclaimed, "0, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets 
and stonest them which are sent unto thee ; how often would I have 
gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her 
wings, and ye would not I Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." 
Luke, xiii, 34, 35. And when he was come near, he beheld the city and 
wept over it, saying : "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy 
day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from 
thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall 
cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on 
every side, and lay thee even with the ground, and thy children with thee ; 
and they shall not leave iD thee one stone upon another, because thou 
knewest not the time of thy visitation." (Luke, xix., 41 — 44.) 

And was not Jerusalem destroyed agreeable to this declaration, and the 
Israelites driven out from the inheritance of their fathers and scattered 
among all nations ? Doubtless they were, and yet they will not repent 
and believe in Christ, although as a nation, they feel the indignation of 
the Almighty, whose wrath has been poured out upon them in a temporal 
manner for over eighteen hundred years. This is neither a short time, 
nor a light punishment, yet it is not ended. 

Here the question may be asked : Is God to relent ? Or must they re- 
pent, and believe on his Son ? Doubtless the latter, for Jesus himself de- 
clared to them, "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
John, viii., 24. Consequently the longer they reject him, and the testi- 
mony of the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of his servants, the more of them 
will be lost. 

It was generally considered among the people in and about Jerusalem, 
that when the judgments of God were openly displayed in a temporal man- 
ner against a person or persons, that such were greater sinners than others. 

But in order to show that all without exception, while in a state of 
nature are under condemnation, Jesus said to those persons who told him 
of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, 
"Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, be- 
cause they suffered such things ? I tell you, Nay ; but except ye repent, 
yeshalLall likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in 
Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men 
that dwelt at Jerusalem ? I tell you, Nay ; but except ye repent, ye shall 
all likewise perish." Luke, xiii., 2 — 5. 

Thus you see, all must repent and believe, or they cannot be saved. The 
Jews have been looking for a Messiah ever since they rejected and crucified 



45 



Jesus, but no other has appeared to th?m. Would any sane man presume 
to say that God ought, or that God will send them another Messiah, or 
Saviour, one that will suit and satisfy their unbelieving, impenitent hearts, 
and stubborn will, because they seem determined not to repent, and believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ ? 

Is it meet that God should conform to the requirements of sinful man ? 
Or ought man to conform to the requirements of Qod ? It is abundantly 
and positively declared in the sacred scriptures both that God would, and 
that God has, wrought out and brought in by the man of his right hand 
everlasting righteousness, and only requires man to believe it, receive it, and 
acknowledge it. 

Therefore I hope you will seriously consider these things and be wise. 
Suppose the men of Nineveh had not repented at the preaching of Jonah, 
would not God have destroyed them ? Doubtless he would, but repent- 
ance checked the current of divine vengeance which otherwise would have 
overwhelmed them in utter destruction. 

Why then should men surmise, suppose, and even declare that God 
ought, or that it might be expected of him, in conformity to his attribute 
of love, to shorten the duration of punishment in the world to come, and 
not only indulge the hope themselves, but endeavor to induce others 
to indulge the hope, that not only all mankind will be saved, but that 
even the fallen angels will be restored to their former station. They 
being included in the declaration of Peter, when he spake of the final res- 
titution of all things. 

But it is very evident, they not only wrest the scriptures to their own 
destruction and the destruction of others, but they also pervert the Apos- 
tle's meaning in the sentence above. And in order that you might see it 
clearly, I will quote three verses from the Acts of the Apostles, where 
the sentence occurs. Peter said to the Jews : "Repent ye therefore, and be 
converted that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing 
shall come from the presence of the Lord : And he shall send Jesus Christ, 
which before was preached unto you ;" (For explanation, see Acts, ix., 3 — 6, 
15 — 17; x., 42 — 47.) Whom the heaven must receive until the times 
of restitution of all things which God had spoken by the mouth of all his 
holy prophets since the world began." Acts, iii., 19 — 21. 

Here you see, it is the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken 
by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. And when 
or where did God speak of restoring the fallen angels ? 

The Apostle Paul in speaking of Christ's mediatorial office, saith : " He 
took not on him the nature of angels ; but he took on him the seed of 
Abraham," Heb., ii, 16. 

Consequently he is not their Saviour. If they are to be restored, they 
must obtain another Saviour. Even the temptation of Christ by Satan, 
proves that the Devil was well aware he was not his Saviour. Otherwise he 
would have been working against his own interest ; but knowing him to be 
the Saviour of the seed of Abraham, he strove hard to induce him to trans- 
gress against God, that he also might fall like the first Adam, and then 
Satan would have secured the eternal banishment of all the human family. 

Therefore let us see how stern justice paints the awful picture, for God 
hath declared, not only that there is a hell, but he hath made known the 
doom of the devil, and the damned, and has sent, not only his servants, 
but his own Son also to call sinners to repentance, that they might escape, 
not only present, but impending ruin, by fleeing from the wrath to come, 
to the hope set before them in the gospel. 



46 



And Jesus speaking of the last day, saith : " When the Son of man shall 
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon 
the throne of his glory : And before him shall be gathered all nations : 
and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his 
sheep from the goats : And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but 
the goats on his left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right 
hand: Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
you from the foundation of the world. Then shall he say also unto them 
on the left hand : Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, (mind 
this,) prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt., xxv., 31 — 34, 41. 

Now those are Christ's own words. Which do you think is most likely 
to be true, Him, or them who preach and propagate a different doctrine ? 

The Apostle Paul, wishing to attract the serious attention of mankind to 
this all important subject, saith, "We ought to give the more earnest heed 
u the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them 
slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgres- 
sion and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall -we 
escape, if we neglect so great salvation : which at the first began to be 
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him ; 
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with 
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according, to his own will ?" 
Heb., ii., 1, 2, 3, 4, 16. Bead also Luke, xiv., 15 — 24. 

Some persons might suppose, and others contend, that temporal death 
was the extent of punishment inflicted under the law. This is correct so 
far as man's power extended, but then it is necessary we should bear in 
mind that all who die under the displeasure of the Almighty, are lost for 
ever. If you wish proofread Luke, xii., 5; Psa. xcii., 6, 7; xcv., 6 — 11. 

Therefore take heed how you form in your immagination an idol god, 
or a God all love, who will accomodate sinners with a place of punishment 
suited to the frailty of their nature, in consideration of their inability to 
withstand temptation, sin, and Satan, for you will doubtless deceive your- 
self. 

The scriptures caution you not to bless yourself in your heart, saying, 
" I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart," for 
proof, read Deut., xxix., 19 — 21. 

You are aware that God did not make man as he now is, a fallen, pol- 
luted being ; He made him perfect and upright, (for proof read Eccle., vii., 
29,) but the devil has corrupted him, therefore to set such a being enquir- 
ing into the intensity of the pain to be endured, or to calculate the im- 
mensity of eternity, except to deter him from sinning, is profitless, and 
unworthily exercising his reasoning powers. 

For it is very evident, his whole ability should be exercised to escape 
hell, together with its punishments, whether great or small, and not en- 
courage him to risk an entrance there under the delusive hope that he 
might come off with light punishment. For the scriptures declare, " the 
hope of the hypocrite shall perish." And the parable put forth by our 
Lord, in Luke xvi., 22 — 26, proves the unalterable condition of those who 
enter hell. 

You know, we are abundantly informed in scripture that there is a place 
of misery and woe, as well as a place of happiness, and that each is ever- 
lasting. But the unbelieving soul can form no more idea of the blessed- 
ness of the one, than it can of the misery of the other. 

Suffice it to say then, that there are such places. Which do you choose ? 
The way to each is described ; one is declared to be narrow, the other broad. 



47 



In addition to this, — all mankind, while in an unregenerated state are declared to 
be in the broad way. Yet G-od hath not placed them there, neither doth he com- 
mand them to remain there, or to walk therein. He calls to repentance, he commands 
that they should forsake sin, to come out from among- them and be a separate people 
unto the Lord, confess your faults to him, acknowledge your lost and ruined condition, 
and he will receive you as his peculiar treasure. 

What hinders you then ? Doubtless it is your own sinful nature, your propensity to 
sin, the pride and stubbornness of your heart, and the great enemy of your soul that 
keeps you in the broad way, and holds your soul in bondage. 

Will you not make an effort then ? Will you not struggle with your enemies, and 
strive to enter in at the straight gate ? If you feel weak and unable to cope with 
your spiritual foes, G-od invites you to call upon him, "Who giveth power to the 
faint, and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength." Isa. xl., 29. 

For, notwithstanding all your enmity against him, your hard thoughts of him, your 
wicked words, ways, and actions, he is willing to receive you as a repenting sinner, 
and will help you against your strong enemy, therefore he saith, " Call upon me in 
the day of trouble ; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Psa. L 15. 
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, 
and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jere. xxix., 11. 

This of course leaves you without excuse, and forces the Lord to exclaim, " Why 
will ye die, house of Israel ?" Ezek. xxxiii., 11. 

The fourth portion of sqrip#&e for our consideration is, " God is merciful." Doubt- 
less God is merciful, or none could escape, therefore it behoves us to enquire diligently 
and endeavor to ascertain not only to whom he is merciful, but also in what region 
mercy is extended ; where, and how it is to be obtained, and what it is to feel, expe- 
rience, and enjoy it. 

For God has declared, " I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins 
and their iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. viii., 12. 

Now, with respect to whom he is merciful, we may consider it to be those he 
implanted in Adam, and foreordained that they should spring from him after a course 
of nature. These of course were foreknown to God as Adam's seed, and not the seed 
of the serpent. But when Adam fell, these too as a matter of course fell in him, and 
being afterwards born in sin, they needed redemption. Therefore the Apostle saith, 
" As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his 
own order." It being an individual work. Therefore the same Apostle saith again, 
" Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of 
his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren." Rom. viii., 29. 

Now in this place I wish you to take particular notice, not only to what predestina- 
tion refers, but also, who comes under its influence, because there are misconceptions 
on the subject. 

If you observe, the Apostle declares, That whom God did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate (what to) to be conformed to the image of his Son. And the Son him- 
self declared, " All that the Father giveth me (to redeem) shall come to me : and him 
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to 
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will 
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but 
should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that 
every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life : and 
I wiU raise him up at the last day." John vi., 3*7 — 40. 

Thus you see, The children of God, or those whom he implanted in Adam at the 
creation, being the spiritual seed of Abraham, were predestinated to eternal life 
through Jesus Christ, their Lord and Saviour. God did not predestinate the wicked to 
destruction, as some think. He has nothing to do with them, they are the seed sown 
in Adam by the devil since the fall, and always remain in his charge and will doubt- 
less share his fate. 

The scriptures declare them to be the children of the wicked one. The enemy that 
sowed them is the devil. If you wish proof, read Matt, xiii., 36 — 43; John viii., 
31~~ 41 ■ 1st John iii., 12. Therefore he that made them will not have mercy on 
them, and he that formed them will show them no favor." Isa. xxvii., 11. 

Some men speak of the death of the body, or of the dissolution of the union existing 
between soul and body, as taking a leap in the dark, By which the great problem 
concerning futurity is to be solved, supposing it not possible for the soul to know where 
it is destined until after it is separated from the body. 

To all who depart this life under such benighted circumstances it will surely be an 
awful leap. But in order to show that the people of God are not permitted to quit 



48 



the stage of life under such darkness and uncertainty; It is thus written, "And it 
shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the 
river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, ye children 
of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be 
blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and 
the outcast in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at 
Jerusalem. Isa. xxvii, 12, 13. 

Thus you see the gospel trumpet is to awaken and arouse the sinners of God's peo- 
ple to a sight and sense of their awful state and condition by sin and the fall, make 
them feel the need of a Saviour, and cause them to seek the Lord where he may be 
found, and to call upon him while he is near. Because the soul-distressed, sensibly 
lost and perishing sinner is to obtain mercy in this world, and after obtaining mercy, 
find grace to help him in time of need, that he may be enabled to hold on his way. 
Therefore saith Jesus, " My sheep hear my voice, (see John v., 25,) and I know them, 
and they follow me : (in the regeneration,) And I give unto them (mind that) eternal 
life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." 
John x., 21, 28. 

Thus it appears clear that the sheep will hear and pay attention, but the goats will 
not. Therefore if you would be found among the sheep, give ear to the voice of the 
Shepherd that he might put thee in the fold, for calling proves election sure. 

But if you remain in unbelief, afar off from God b? what he calls wicked works, 
and pay no attention to the voice of the Shepherd, y^m appear as a goat. For proof 
of this I will refer you to what passed between Christ and the Jews, as recorded by 
the Apostle John, saying, 'And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. 
Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How dost thou make us to 
doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and 
ye believed not : the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. 
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." John x., 
23—26 ; read also, John viii., 41—41. 

The truth is to be declared to mankind, in order that those to whom the Lord will 
grant repentance unto life, might repent and turn to God with all their heart. 

Did you ever take notice how the Lord dealt with Hezekiah, king of Judah, when 
he was sick unto death. He sent the prophet Isaiah to him, not with a cordial of life, 
but with the sentence of death, saying, "Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in or- 
der : for thou shalt die, and not live. 

"Well, what effect had this message on Hezekiah? Did he rebel against the 
decree ? No ! Did it destroy the brittle thread of life and hurl him to destruction ? 
No ! But it made him pray, because he believed the report, and being well aware of 
his perishing condition he felt all hope and expectation from an arm of flesh cut off. 
Consequently he turned his face to the wall of salvation, (see Isa. xxvi., 1 ; lx., 18,) 
and poured out his soul in prayer unto the Lord. And the Lord heard and answered his 
prayer, because it proceeded from his heart, under a feeling sense of his extreme need. 

And the very same man, and the very same mouth that delivered the sentence of 
death, now administered life to his soul, and poured wine and oil into his bleeding wounds. 

Well might the Lord say, " See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with 
me : I kill, and I make alive ; I wound, and I heal ; neither is there any that can de- 
liver out of my hand." Deut. xxxii, 39. 

And this circumstance elicited from Hezekiah, not only praise to the Lord, but a 
declaration of what the Lord had done for his soul, for our information and benefit. 

First he described his fears, and then said, "Like a crane or a swallow, so did I 
chatter : I did mourn as a dove : mine eyes fail with looking upward : ! Lord, I am 
oppressed ; undertake for me. (See how earnestly he called on the Lord, and the Lord 
did undertake for him, therefore he asks) What shall I say ? He hath both spoken 
unto me, and himself hath done it ; I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of 
my spirit ; so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace (mind 
that) I had great bitterness; but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the 
pit of corruption, thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. (Do you observe the 
glorious position he now occupied, while he remained in this time state ? He had ar- 
rived at the full assurance of faith, and he gives the reason why he enjoyed this 
blessing here, saying:) For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; 
they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truths. The living he shall praise 
thee, as I do this day ; the father to the children shall make known thy truth." Isa. 
xxxviii., 14—19 ; Psa. 1., 23. 

Thus you may clearly see that we are to experience these things before we go 



49 



hence, otherwise we shall certainly take a leap in the dark, and a most awful leap it 
will be too. 

For the spiritual edification of mankind in this matter, the Apostle asks, " "Who is 
he that maketh me glad, save he which is made sorry by me ?" 2d Cor., ii., 2. This 
doubtless has reference to the operation of God's spirit in the heart as was manifested 
in the case of Isaiah and Hezekiah. The message which the prophet so faithfully 
delivered made the king sorry. But the result made the prophet glad, seeing it ope- 
rated to the benefit of the king's soul, by bringing him to the footstool of sovereign 
mercy, and causing him to obtain the blessing of the Lord. 

Well might another prophet call to the people of God. saying, " Israel, return 
unto the Lord thy God ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, 
and turn to the Lord : say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graci- 
ously : so will we render the calves of our lips." Hos. xiv., 1, 2. 

But there appears to be many stumbling-blocks in the way to prevent them from 
doing this, one is the pride of the human heart, man will think more highly of him- 
self than he ought to think, and many labor under the impression that it would be 
greatly accommodating both God and his servants for them to believe his word. They 
see not their own interests in reading of his works and ways, or in hearing his servants 
declare it. They vainly imagine that both God and his servants are seeking their own 
interest, instead of the eternal welfare of the souls of sinners. 

How can such persons testify of God's mercy ? having never experienced it, or 
with what propriety can they say to others, God is merciful, when they have not been 
tried at the bar of God, in the court of their own conscience, found guilty and con- 
demned to die like Hezekiah ? 

These know nothing experimentally of the value of a Saviour. It seems but of little 
importance to them, That " Christ is exalted a prince and a Saviour, for to give repen- 
tance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins, because they feel no need of him, they think 
they are whole, and the whole need not a physician, consequently they will not seek him. 

But when they become sin sick, or sick of sin, and with sin, feeling experimentally 
the wages thereof to be death, in all its terrors, and in all its consequences, then they 
will seek him early. 

As it is written, "In their trouble they will seek me early." Therefore this is the 
language of God to the sinner, " I will make thee sick in smiting thee, because of thy 
sins and because of thy manifested transgressions." To such souls the prophet calls, 
saying, " Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal 
us ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up." Hos. vi., 1. 

Therefore it is written, " My son despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be 
weary of his correction. For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth : even as a father 
the son in whom he delighteth." Pro. iii., 11, 12. And again the Lord saith, "As 
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : be zealous therefore and repent." Rev. iii., 19. 

The Apostle backs this by declaring, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with 
you as with sons ; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be 
without chastisement, whereof all (God's children) are partakers, then are ye bastards 
and not sons." Heb. xii., 1, 8. 

For thus it is written, " Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salva- 
tion: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For thus saith the 
Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made it ; he 
hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited ; I am the 
Lord, and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the 
earth : I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain : I the Lord speak 
righteousness, I declare things that are right." Isa. xlv., 11, 18, 19. 

And when the sinner is convinced and convicted, " Then (saith the Lord) shall ye 
call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And 
ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." 
Jere. xxix., 12, 13. 

May you earnestly attend to these things ere it be too late, and may the Lord bless 
you, cause his faee to shine upon you, and fill you with joy and peace in believing. 
JWhile I remain thine faithfully to serve in the bonds of the gospel of God. 

FREDERICK HASTED. 



^ COM RISO 3ST- 



WRITTEN ON THESE WORDS. 

And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he thai 
troubleth Israel ? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel ; but thou, and thy father's 
house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim. 
—1st Kings xvur. 17, 18. 

Knowing there are many persons in the United States at the present day who, j 
like Ahab with Elijah, accuse President Lincoln of troubling this nation, I thought j 
it might be of general benefit to make a few remarks 011 the subject, because Presi- 
dent Lincoln stands in a similar position between the people and God as Elijah 
did. The principal difference being that, Elijah was sent of God to make known to I 
Ahab that a famine should arise throughout all the land of Israel on account of 
transgressions. And Elijah said unto Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, 
before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to 
my word." — 1st Kings xvii. 1. 

This produced in the mind of Ahab hatred against the prophet, and when it 
came to pass, he sought him, to punish him for it, supposing it originated with and 
was brought to pass by Elijah, Because sinful men seldom look higher than man. 
They seem to form the opinion, either that God hath forsaken the earth, so that he 
has nothing to do with the affairs of men, or that they themselves are doing every 
thing right in his sight, and no one else has any thing to do with their ways or 
works. They seem ignorant of the fact that God by his Spirit works in some men 
to reprove others, that they might forsake their evil course and turn unto the Lord. 
As it is written, "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ? and the scorners 
delight in their scorning, aud fools hate knowledge? Turn }^ou at my reproof: be- 
hold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you." — Pro. i. 22, 23. For " Whoso loveth 
instruction loveth knowledge: but he that liateth reproof is brutish." — Pro. xii. ]. 
"The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but he loveth him that 
followeth after righteousness. Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the 
way : and he that hateth reproof shall die ; (spiritually, for) Hell and destruction are 
before the Lord : how much more then the hearts of the children of men ? " — Pro. 
xv. 9 to 11. . • * 

And now let me ask, Have not the Southern people been reproved and warned j 
for years ? Did not Mr. Jefferson foresee the evil likely to arise on account of 
slavery, when he said, " I tremble for my country, when I consider that God is just, | 
and will not withhold his anger forever?" or w r ords to that effect ? Ought they 
not to have taken warning, instead of obstinately urging on in their sinful course ? 
Are they not now following the example of Pharaoh, who resisted the Lord until 
totally destroyed ? Has not President Lincoln now stood to a certain extent be- 
tween rebellious sinners and God for nearly three years, endeavoring to cause them 
to do that which is right in God's sight, and yet they remain rebels ? 

And those persons w r ho are as short-sighted as Ahab seek to throw the blame 
on the President. For shame on such persons; when will they become wise? Have 
not the slaveholders, rebel leaders, and Southern people generally forsaken the com- 
mandments of the Lord, and followed Baalim? Is it any thing to be wondered at 
that they are temporally punished for it, like Israel of old ? 

Let them read the book of Job, and take heed how they resist chastisement, j 
lest they should be cut off in their sins. Then a great ransom, even Jesus, can not j 
deliver them. Therefore he exhorts his followers to " Fear him, which after he hath 
killed hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." — Luke xii. 5. 

And I humbly hope, instead of blaming President Lincoln for that which he j 
is not responsible, you will all pay strict attention and flee from the wrath to come, j 
to the hope set before you in the Gospel, while I remain yours and theirs to serve 
faithfully in the Lord. 

Buffalo, N. Y., Sept 28th, 1863. FREDERICK HASTED. 



CHAPTER L. 

THE TRUE CHRISTIAN. 

WRITTEN ON THESE WORDS: 
u But we have the mind of Christy — 1 Cor. ii. 16. 

Now, I will endeavor to show you who and what the Apostle means when he saith, 
" But we have the mind of Christ." 

You are probably aware that Saul of Tarsus considered himself not only a moral 
man, but also a true worshipper of God, and was esteemed such by others, although 
he persecuted the real children of God, not knowing who were his real children ac- 
cording to the promise (see Rom. ix. 6 to 8). But thinking himself one according 
to the law, he persecuted those who were children of grace, and followed the Lord in 
the regeneration, and thought he was doing God service. But when convinced of 
his error, he asked the Lord what he would have him to do. "And the Lord said 
unto him, Arise, and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 
And Saul arose from the earth ; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man r 
but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three 
days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. (Thus the Lord made him 
feel his spiritual blindness.) And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named 
Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I 
am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which 
is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus : 
for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, 
and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias an- 
swered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to 
thy saints at Jerusalem: 'And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind 
all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way : for he is a 
chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the chil- 
dren of Israel : For I will show him how great things he must surfer for my name's 
sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house ; and putting his 
hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in 
the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be 
filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been 
scales : and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized."— Acts ix. 6 to 17. 

Saul needed not to ask any questions, for power attended the word, and he was 
filled with the Holy Ghost. Thus Saul commenced Christianity, and became a true 
Christian, being made one spirit with the Lord. — See 1 Cor. vi. 17; 2 Cor. v. 17 to 
21. To all such persons he beareth witness of the genuineness of their religion, 
saying, " To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this 
mystery among the Gentiles ; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Whom we 
preach warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom ; that we may 
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labor, striving accord- 
ing to his working, which worketh in me mightily." — Col. i. 27 to 29. 

And to show clearly that all persons lacking this evidence are not true Christians, 
not having a good hope through grace, he declares, " Now if any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they 
are the sons of God." — Rom. viii. 9, 14. 

The Father saith of Christ, " Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peo- 
ple, a leader and commander to the people." — Isa. Iv. 4. 

And Jesus saith to his disciples, " I am the true vine, and. my Father is the hus- 
bandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away : and every 



2 



branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye 
are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in 
you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more 
can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth 
m me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do 
nothing. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, 
and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved 
you : continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my 
love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These 
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy 
might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved 
you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." — John xv. 1 to 14. 

Thus you see the commandments of Jesus, and the commandments of the 
Father are distinct, and should be viewed in a different light. Because the one came 
through or by Moses and the prophets, as general to all the people ; and the other 
came through or by Christ to his disciples, under the gospel dispensation, he having 
fulfilled the law, or the Father's commandments for us, as man Mediator, having 
saved us by shedding his own blood to atone for our sins, and so deliver us from the 
curse of God's law. Therefore saith the Apostle, " We love him, because he first 
loved us." — 1 John iv. 19. Therefore saith Paul, "In Jesus Christ neither circum- 
cision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith which worketh by love. Now 
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, unclean- 
ness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, 
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the 
which I tell you, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do 
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, 
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against 
such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the 
affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us 
not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another." — Gal. 
v. 6, 19 to 26; 1 Cor. vi. 9 to 11. 

But here in the nineteenth century, in enlightened America, that ought to set the 
world an example of true Christianity, we have other kind of teaching. For on the 
5th day of January, 1866, three editors of newspapers gave evidence by their actions, 
that instead of possessing the mind of Christ, they possessed the mind of the wicked 
one. For it is written, " The fear of the Lord is to hate evil ; pride, and arrogancy, 
and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." — Prov. viii. 13. 

Yet in the face of this declaration, these men tried to shoot each other, even in the 
capitol, or House of Delegates, at Richmond, Virginia, when the House was in session, 
not only endangering the lives of the members, but interrupting State business and 
desecrating the House. When the difficulty between them might have been settled edi- 
torially. But no. The great enemy of souls made one too proud to acknowledge a 
fault, if he was in fault (see James v. 1 6), and made the others so spiteful and ma- 
licious that they determined on revenge, and sought to destroy life or shed blood, for 
they fired six shots, not heeding the declaration of God, " Whoso sheddeth man's 
blood, by man shall his blood be shed." — Gen. ix. 6. 

If there are not already laws in force to punish such recklessness, I think the safety 
of society and honor of the State and Nation demands that laws should be immedi- 
ately enacted, severe enough to deter others from doing the like. 

Not long since a female entered the Treasury Department, and shot down one of 
the clerks for marrying another instead of her. There are laws for breach of promise 
of marriage, so that, if the man was in fault, she might seek redress at law. But if 



3 



women are allowed to take the law in their own hands, and commit murder, no man 
will be safe. And not only will he be deprived of his right of choosing, but he may 
be compelled to marry the woman that will have him, or she will take his life. Thus 
the woman not only invades man's rights, but usurps authority over him, contrary to 
the Apostle's rule. — See 1 Tim. ii. 9 to 14. And also takes the lawful light of a 
married woman from her, by depriving her of her husband. Are such things to be 
allowed in enlightened America? If so, she will get in the dark. 

The great Apostle of the Gentiles thus exhorted those who professed to be believers 
in Christ, "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that w r hich is evil; cleave to 
that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love ; in 
honor prefering one another; not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the 
Lord; Rejoicing in hope ; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; dis- 
tributing to the necessity of saints ; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute 
you : bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them 
that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but 
condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense 
to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be pos- 
sible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge 
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; 
I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, 
give him drink : for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his head. Be not 
overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." — Rom. xii. 9 to 21. 

But behold how widely different those persons acted of whom I have written. 
And are there not thousands of persons in the Southern States at this present time 
acting as widely different from the principles of true Christianity ? Who then are they 
serving ? God or mammon ? But no sinner can deceive God, for he searcheth the 
heart and trieth the reins of the children of men, and takes the will for the deed, 
whether it be good or bad. For in the days of Ezekiel the prophet, God spake 
of false professors thus, "Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have 
laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have com- 
mitted. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as 
my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them ; for with their 
mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness." — 
Ezekiel xxxiii. 29, 31. 

The Apostle believing that the promised seed are all foreknown to God, declares, " Whom 
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he 
might be the first-born among many brethren." — Rom. viii. 29. On the strength of this, He 
wrote to the Galatians, saying, " Now I say, That the heir (of an estate), as long as he is a child 
(under age), difFereth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all ; But is under tutors 
and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, 
were in bondage under the elements of the world : But when the fullness of the time was come, 
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were 
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God 
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou 
art no more a servant, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." — Gal. iv. 
1 to 7. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God 
hath before ordained that we should walk in them." — Eph. ii. 10. 

Therefore in order that all such persons should prove themselves true believers by display- 
ing Christian graces, He thus exhorts them, " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies 
of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is 
your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the 
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will 
of God."— Rom. xii. 1,2. 

For even the true Christian is not perfect in himself, his perfection is from Christ. For he 
carries about a body of sin and death, a fleshy tabernacle, which is not only subject to tempta- 
tion, but likely to tempt himself to do wrong, which the Apostle notices thus : "I delight in 
the law of God after the inward man : But I see another law in my members, warring against 
the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my mem- 
bers."— Rom. vii. 22, 23. Read also Ezek. xvi. 14 ; Isa, liv. 17. 



4 



Thus the true Christian has got to contend against the world, his own flesh and the devil: 
But if he is really crucified unto the world, and the world unto him, he cannot take any plea- 
sure in the things of the world, and therefore he will have no more to do with the world than 
he is obliged while he is in this time state. Thus he puts off the old man with his deeds, and 
proves his calling and election sure, agreeable to the Apostle's recommendation, " This I say 
therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vani- 
ty of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God 
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart : Who, being 
past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greedi- 
ness. But ye have not so learned Christ ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught 
by him, as the truth is in Jesus : That ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old 
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your 
mind ; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true 
holiness."— Eph. iv. 17 to 24. Read also 2 Peter i. 1 to 13. 

Therefore he saith of himself, " I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live : yet not I, 
but Cbrist liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the 
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." — Gal. ii. 20. Again he showeth the dif- 
ference between a carnally minded person and a spiritually minded person, saying, " For what 
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent his own Son in the likeness 
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh ; That the righteousness of the law might 
be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the 
flesh 40 mind the things of the flesh 5 but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 
For to be carnally minded is death ; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because 
the carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, 
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin ; 
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." — Rom. viii. 3 to 10. 

May the Lord be pleased in the multitude of his tender mercies to bless the reading of this 
to your soul, so that if you are not now a true Christian, you might become one, and live to the 
honor and glory of his grace, and of his great and glorious name ; and in order that you might 
be enabled to judge whether I am serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and using much 
diligence in feeding his sheep, I will acquaint you a little with my circumstances, age, and 
manner of life : 

I have spent 22 years or more of my life circulating religious reading of my own and 
others' writing. I have been in twenty States of the Union, besides Canada ; I have travelled 
on foot thirty thousand miles, besides what 1 have rode in steamers and cars, and the Lord 
having granted me his blessing according to promise, I have been enabled to save a little to 
keep me in my old age : But I have not been unmindful of the sheep. For the last four or 
five years I have been giving away what I had left, writing more, getting them printed, and 
giving them away up to this time. This I expect will be the last I shall write, having as many 
on hand as I shall be able to circulate gratis, if I live and enjoy health and strength, for five 
years to come. I devote all the time I can to the Lord's business. But I cannot do as much 
as 1 would, for I send a great quantity away by mail, and that makes me a great deal of work 
and takes up much time ; for the small ones I have to stitch together and trim them so that 
they should not weigh over a certain weight, then I have to put them up and direct them, and 
then carry them a mile to the post office and prepay the postage. 

If I live until the 26th day of May next, I shall be 73 years of age, and as I live alone I have 
got to prepare and cook my own food, and fetch my own water five squares, and saw and split 
my own fire- wood ; this I prefer doing for the benefit of my health and to have the wood a size and 
length I wish ; besides, I wish to live as frugally as possible in order to pay expenses of the 
Lord's work, hoping I shall have enough to hold out while I do live, and I wish to live long 
enough (if it be the will of God) to distribute what I shall have on hand when these are done, 
which will be nearly a thousand dollars worth. 

The war caused me to write a great many, I should not have written this if those Editors at 
Richmond had not behaved so badly. For while reading in the paper about them, the text 
came to my mind and I wrote considerable on it in pencil from memory, but when I wanted 
to write it off for the printer I could not find the text in Brown's Concordance, under the head 
of" Mind," so I searched all through the Romans, Galatians, and nearly the Ephesians, and could 
not find it up to Saturday night, 13th, so I went to bed. On Sunday morning, January 14th, 
I awoke at 2 o'clock and lay considering, and thought of something by which I might find it 
by the Concordance. Before 4 o'clock I got up to look for it and found it, but it was so cold 
that the windows were covered so thick with ice I could not see out, but I got everything ar- 
ranged so as to go on with the writing when it got daylight and the room got warmer, and com- 
menced crumbling up some toasted bread ready for my breakfast, as I could not eat it other- 
wise, having no top teeth to bite with. So I got along and completed it after a while, and now 
present it to you hoping you may be benefited thereby. 

While I remain yours sincerely in the Lord, 

Euffalo, State of New York, January 22d, 1866. FREDERICK HASTED. 



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